What Was Once Suppose To Be
by Lavenderpaw
Summary: They say the portal was destroyed for good; but was it? Hiro has some work to do to get Tadashi's wish off the ground and being an on-call superhero is only half-fulfilling that wish in Hiro's eyes. As the teenage genius attempts to conduct a secret experiment that not even Baymax knows about, a young chief struggles to be the leader he's needed to be. So what if they cross paths?
1. The Polar Portals: Pt 1 of 2

The Polar Portals: Pt 1 of 2

I. Somewhere miles away from all traces of snow and ice...

Two figures zipped through the sky, circling each other in a death spiral before aligning perfectly and gradually easing into a parallel position over one another. The black-suited man with the winged arms looked over his shoulder and let the large black dragon know that it was time to connect up. Shaking his head free of a red sash tied around his eyes, the Night Fury attempted to accurately align his limbs with his new co-pilot's and it was proving rather difficult.

"Hey, new leader!" Tuffnut called out to the chief. "Just how in the bowels of Hades is this suppose to work?!" He and his even more erratic twin sister wrestled each other for control as their dragons wrestled each other _and _them for control. "No, Ruffnut!"

"It's not _MY _fault the new chief wants us all to form this stupid new protection flight squad; now get off my half of our dragon!"

"I don't know what you guys are complaining about," Eret was exhilarated in both voice and appearance as he glided right over them with immense ease straped beneath Skullcrusher. "This is fun!" he shared a nod with Hiccup who still lingered under his own shaky dragon. The man shared a bizarre look with Toothless while below Fishlegs clung to Meatlog's tail and Snoutlout a scaly neck.

"Sorry, buddy." He apologized to Hookfang, then to Hiccup more aggressively. "_Some _of us have limits." His dragon bowed a little.

"I'm sorry, guys. But this is a dream I've had for a long time." The chief addressed his men as Snoutlout had to scramble up in order to clutch his dragon's jugular harder. "I want us all to be in actual formation. I..." He hooked himself and latched onto a stiff-looking Toothless, finally, and continued on, "I want us to be a _real _team."

"We'll be a real team when we can _actually _be dragon riders."

"We are," Hiccup was still optimistic as they flew in a disjointed, sloping pattern that looked like a weird open-mouth smile. "It's just a new way of flying, almost like we _are _our dragons. Right, bud?" he looked expectantly up at Toothless who was panicked.

The dragon screeched. Hiccup looked up in time to see a sheer mountain coming up. There was no time for Toothless to curl in on himself and protect Hiccup; he didn't even get the chance to see if his men had made it out all right. Hiccup unlatched himself from Toothless and purposely fell backwards. The Night Fury let out another screech and tried anchoring his body towards Hiccup.

"Toothless, formation." He tried aligning himself with his dragon.

With wide green eyes, he waved his head-side-to-side wildly in protest before eyeing the rocks coming upon them quickly. He turned back and beseeched Hiccup who only crossed his arms while up-side down. Toothless screeched out to him irritably.

"There's only one way we're doing this, Toothless," he was so confident it was absurd. The Night Fury screeched at Hiccup in fear and subdubed outrage. Hiccup shook his head quickly and realized Toothless was truly frightened. "Hold on, bud, hold on."

He air-swam over to the trembling dragon, didn't even bother to hook himself and locked his leg into Toothless's left stirrup before he righted his dragon up. Toothless was frozen mentally, at once grasping with slow anguish what Hiccup had really almost allowed to happen and more to the point, how it had happened again in a matter of a few seconds. He felt Hiccup rub between his sensory flaps and looked up in anxiety and alarm; his friend was regretful.

"I'm sorry, bud." He said earnestly, a shadow had fallen over his face and Toothless grew calmer as well when it dawned on him where he had seen the solemness before. The two flew quietly through a lingering fog as four silohuettes flew far below them.

Toothless looked up curiously at Hiccup, trying to comprehend once again the mysterious new stressors that came with the role of Human Alpha when a flash of dark green caught his eye. Hiccup looked up from his rumination on Toothless at a tiny glowing hole in the center of the rock expanse they had almost collided into. He briefly wondered aloud if there could be baby Bewildebeats inside when Toothless looked up at him with an eagerness to go explore.

Hiccup smiled warbly and patted the side of his neck. "Okay, bud." he said in quiet acceptance that it was time to listen for a change.

...


	2. The Polar Portals: Pt 2 of 2

II. In San Fransoyo...

Hiro paced outside of Callaghan's former office, biting his lip and holding onto his request slip in both hands. There'd been a shuffling of people several times over since the fall out of the professor and Hiro needed a signature approval if he was ever going to proceed with his next project. The boy stopped and looked down wistfully at the paper that could help him begin work on an offical line of Baymax-like bots.

This would be exactly what his big brother would approve of; another thought came to Hiro now. Would this finally be enough to erase the lingering guilt he harbored in his heart?

"Can I help you?" Cindy Keller peeked out her neat brown hair and pointy-rimmed glasses. "Mr. Hamada, it's so early."

"Yes, ma'am, you know my brother was a late kind of guy and I'm a, well, I was hoping I could get your approval to begin my new line of Baymax Bots and hopefully move beyond the prototype my brother built...uh, is that, um, is that something I could get clearance for here. I've still got half my grant money and so funding it wouldn't be a prob."

"Oh..." The thirty-something lady walked out. "Bless your soul, you know my cousin Beth was on the same panel that, well, that's not important. The point is I couldn't even begin to place myself in your situation if something like that were to happen to _my_ big sister. Well, Bethany isn't really my...

Um, where were we? Your proposition? Oh! I think that an absolutely wonderful idea, Mr. Hamada. Tadashi Tech is a real addition to the Institute and..." She noticed Hiro's look of barely-concealed anxiety and began hesistantly. "As of right now, we don't have a specific agenda for the field of medical science beyond what our students initially learn. I think you may want to try Henderson Health Tech out in San Bejinndino or perhaps a sponsor like Krei Tech... or-,"

"It's okay," Hiro dodged her concerned look, "I was just thinking of something like this down the road, I still have several other projects in the pipeline. Maybe I'll just go."

"We still push the boundaries here, Mr. Hamada." Hiro turned to her suddenly confident approach. "Do you still not recognize me?" he blinked. "Cinder Block and Storm Wave?" she raised her brows and smiled at Hiro impishly.

"You're... you're the original champions of the generation one bot fighters. I-," he actually kneeled before her on his hands and knees, then stood and shook her hand. "You two pioneered the underground bot fighting world at age ten and eleven. I-I read about you growing up! Whatever happened to the Buzzin' Bot Cousins? You both are legends, ma'am."

She shrugged. "We grew up. I travelled the world and got my teaching degree and she worked behind the scenes in the last twenty years with Mr. Alistar Krei." Hiro blinked with wide eyes as Cindy "Cinder Block" Keller took out a flash drive, beamed something at his forearm and smiled at his perplexity. "My offical signature emailed directly to the Dean of Admissions at S.B., you should be receiving word any time in the next few seconds. Now if you'll excuse me."

Hiro checked the thin SharpPhone around his arm and saw a pending acceptance letter. His eyes widened; he was on his way to getting accepted to one of the top three schools in the world for medical technolgy and development. But now in the next second, Hiro wilted. This would mean he would have to leave his friends, home and San Fransoyko behind. He would be leaving his pre-superhero career and it's merits behind. But most of all, he would be leaving his older brother behind. Even if this meant honoring him and continuing his legacy; his friends could continue it here too.

But there was _one _little thing Hiro was going to have to sort out before he left, _one _particular person who might object if it meant breaking up the team and _one _potential problem as Hiro was unaware of how they might react to his leaving on the next flight out to H.H.T. It used to be Aunt Cass. but in her mind it would be just another step in the right direction.

It wasn't even that it was about healthcare, it was about the fact that Hiro was leaving. No, what was really nagging at Hiro was how was he going to tell Baymax goodbye again.

To be continued...


	3. Inner dragons

I. The mysterious cove...

Hiccup landed on a small perch outside the oddly glowing entryway and dismounted off of Toothless. The two shared curious looks before the man fearlessly unsheathed his fire sword and led the way. Toothless warily wandered in after him. At the mouth, Hiccup turned suddenly to face his bud.

"Toothless," he was troubled, but he couldn't help being a little put out, "Do you not trust me?" The dragon blinked in surprise. The splendor of beautiful, emerald-looking quartz that made up the walls distracted the Night Fury. He only heard Hiccup distantly. "Because lately it really feels like-,"

"Rawwwwwr!" Toothless declared.

Hiccup turned with some skepticism and gazed upon the cove in wonder. The two walked side-by-side inward to marvel at the natural formation that rounded internally in the gemmed opening and sparkled dimly as they went in deeper. Toothless turned excitedly to Hiccup as he said:

"Can you imagine what we could get for this on the market, Toothless?" The dragon reeled back a little uncertainly as he continued on, "We don't know what this stuff can do, but I imagine a lot of people would trade their wares with Berk just to haveit for decoration. It could liven up a den."

Toothless moaned in quiet discontentment.

Hiccup laid a hand against his dragon's neck and he relaxed a little, the two wandered in deeper and Hiccup had to view his footing to make sure he didn't fall. Toothless made sure he had enough support for him to lean on. They came to an upwards chasm that expanded out, Toothless took a couple of moments to gaze upon the stalactites glittering mutely on the ceiling while Hiccup stumbled over some stalagmites on the ground as he fumbled over to where a bare patch on the cave wall was. Hiccup placed his hand there and wondered.

"Someone had to come here before, this cave was hollowed out by something." he turned to Toothless. "Bud, think you can shoot a blast down that cave and see if we're lurking?"

The Night Fury yelped happily with the idea that this was just like old times and shot a tremendously fast blast that lit up the cove brightly as it went straight as an arrow ahead of them. Hiccup rubbed his hands together and hopped a little.

"Just think, bud..."

Toothless turned to him.

_More Night Furies._ _A new dragon species. _

"We could be rich!"

_Baby bewildebeasts?_

"We could feed Berk and the surplus of other dragons on all kinds of new cuisine and get exotic pelts and just think! Eret and his crew really opened up our minds to all these things. We might not even have to fly much other than to-,"

Toothless screeched out and hurtled away from Hiccup.

"Wait, bud, _hold on! _You know I can't-,"

He didn't hear the rest; Toothless was tired of all these fast and complicated changes. He wanted to fly and be with his best friend. He wanted to explore and go look for dragons, new worlds and new adventures. But most of all, Toothless wanted the old Hiccup back. He stopped towards the end.

There was nothing here, just a vaguely luminous backdrop.

_Come back to me_. The words rang in his memory.

Toothless dropped his head in sadness.

II. A bank robbery in progress...

"Hiro!" GoGo chastised loudly in his headwear.

"Huh? What?" He shook his head and realized that he and Baymax were doing a wide, arcing loop-de-loop to swipe up another villian; there were already four in their custody.

"The girls-," Wasabi started.

"A-hem!"

"The guys-," Fred tried.

GoGo cut in, "The _women _nabbed 4 and Wasabi got 1."

"But Fredzilla _helped _Wasabi get that one."

"It's okay, Hiro." Honey said suddenly. "You and Baymax are really working overtime lately. We'll pick up the slack."

"Head in the game, Hiro." GoGo snapped, undeterred.

A quick sweep of the surrounding area revealed his team had caught nine of the ten criminals. This was a big one; these guys weren't just threatening and taking. They had actually possibly shot one of their hostages. Cops were on that side of it while Big Hero 6 took care of the bad guys.

"It is all right, Hiro," Baymax told him as he expanded his legs out and relied on the momentum to anchor him down as he went for the man while shortening out his fired heels.

"Honey is right, I will apprehend this last felon. Stay put."

Hiro briefly caught a glimpse of the island where they had faced Callaghan before the robot caught the skinny, ragged man between his crimson legs and, pinning him in gently, he managed to avoid collatral damage by stretching out his big body to glide smoothly into the bay. Hiro reacted instantly:

"Baymax, I DIDN'T DESIGN YOU TO GLIDE!"

"Oh, no."

Baymax instantly burst out of his suit and sheltered the five men in his arms. "Hiro!" He called in as much alarm as was possible for him. GoGo swiftly caught the boy to her chest as Baymax landed back-first. "Your core tempratures are plummeting rapidly, you require my immediate aid sirs."

The cold, shivering and water-chilled men bared their teeth.

...

"Thank you," the mayor, who had been passing through on his way to that very bank, shaked a suited Baymax's hand. "As always, the citizens of San Fran are eternally gratified."

"Of course, sir." Said Honey, shaking his assistant's hand.

"Always a pleasure to help," Fred shook with three hands.

"Just another day," GoGo was cheerful for once.

"We're happy to do it." Wasabi said humbly.

"Yeah, right," Hiro mumbled as he stood off to the side.

"Young leader," the teen looked up to the smirking mayor who loomed over him. He glanced over at the impending, grinning journalists. "And idea who's gonna clean this up?"

All cameras turned to the ripped-up street.

Hiro breathed harder now, his already racing mind sprinted.

"Hero One," Baymax knew never to call him _that _Hiro in their hero personas. "Your heart rate is rising and you are breathing erratically." Everyone, even his teammates, were laughing. Hiro clenched his fists, remembering Cindy Keller the first robot-fighting champion. He remembered how she had given up the thing she loved to be someone she wasn't.

Everyone was still laughing.

"One, what's wrong?" GoGo asked good-naturedly.

Everyone laughed, everyone but Baymax.

"I am going to need to remove your headgear soon to scan your brainwaves; the interference of our communicators-,"

Hiro ripped off his helmet and threw it to the ground, he shouted. "No secrets!" The teen roared as the glass front cracked on a cinder block. "My name is Hiro Hamada and I fear no one from San Fransoyko. If you want to come and find me, you face the most powerful force in this country."

Everyone hushed.

"We're Big Hero 6," his tone softened, "We're here to help the sick and injuried," he walked down the street in slow, deliberate steps, "and we're here to defend you and yours!"

The crowd broke into applause.

"Hiro?" Baymax nudged him gently.

"_One_," Wasabi stressed comedically as Hiro quickly shook his head and snapped out of what he was disappointed to discover was a daydream. His friends stared at him with questions on their faces, he looked up at his blinking bot.

"Uh... yeah." He grinned meekly and nodded. "Who-who's gonna clean those roads up, right?" His team kept stealing glances at him as Hiro fought the urge to get away. When he finally told them he had something to do in order to do this, Baymax lingered and waited for _his_ specific orders.

"Baymax, go hang out with the others." Hiro told him.

His teammates were watching after him as he assured them that he just needed to run a quick errand and he would meet them over at Aunt Cass's. Baymax was the last one of them to turn and head to the Lucky Cat Cafe as Hiro dashed off.

To be continued...


	4. The cusp of controversy

I. Back in the cove...

Hiccup was panting hard to get to his flighty dragon. He was ready to demand an answer to the way he was acting, but Hiccup instead came upon another anomaly in the wonderous cove. A thick, swirling green pool had mesmerized his dragon. Hiccup sighed and shook his head at the increasingly strange way his dragon was behaving and seized his lead.

"Toothless, I know being the Alpha gets tough now and then. I mean, I don't mean to the point of running... or, y'know, flying away but-," It was in that moment that Hiccup was dragged into the perfectly warm and peacefully _breathable _water.

"Tooothlessss..." The man gurgled.

The Night Fury paddled naturally with the swishing currents. He let out a satisfied roar that caused a cascade of bubbles to stream out of his mouth. Hiccup was being pulled along for dear life when the two came upon a type of liquid net. While the chief garbled out a protest, Toothless swam straight ahead for the bright entrance that somehow perfectly matched his eyes. The emeralds glowed and Toothless was just about to penetrate it when a deep, earth-shattering roll gripped the two in it's midst.

Realizing the danger, Toothless bolted for an exit. Hiccup discovered then that the bubbles forming when they moved had air in them. It was getting even easier to breath as they broke away out of the mountain side and were truly puzzled when they saw the mountain moving. Toothless flung Hiccup onto his back and the two flew from an enormous dragon.

They both were very surprised to see that the hole had been a mouth. A long, serpentine dragon at least two-hundred feet long, with malachite-colored top, medium-gray underbelly and four giant wings was a sight that almost made the Bewildebeast unassuming.

"I've never seen another dragon like this," Hiccup barely had the breath to say, "I wonder what we could do with him," Toothless seethed suddenly.

He couldn't take it anymore.

The dragon bucked his best friend off and watched with instaneous regret as Hiccup fell backwards. A moment later he saw the man was landing safely in the water. Toothless realized what he had done then and could no longer keep himself up as he fell wildly after the man. The crystalized dragon made a huge sweep down towards Hiccup, his mouth was hinged open wide. Toothless screeched but didn't distract the creature or alert Hiccup. The Night Fury posed down.

When the chief looked up, Toothless whistled down to where the amethyst-eyed dragon was less then ten feet from closing in on him and was mortified to see Toothless swoop into the dragon's mouth. The lizard crunched it's mouth shut, revealing a gaping hole in it's wicked-looking canines and flew away leaving the man stranded against the pointed rocks at the base of the cliff. "TOOTHLESS!" He practically shrieked.

A final screech from the inside of the crystal dragon and Hiccup felt his head hit against the base of the mountain side. Voices called out and winged forms descended upon Hiccup as he started to slip mentally.

"Hiccup," Eret brushed his bangs back as the other men helped him up, "What happened to Toothless?"

"The crystal dragon... he's green. He ate Toothless."

"We'll get you home," Eret's confident voice wavered in Hiccup's faltering conscious.

"It's my fault, Eret," the back of the man's hand ran down Hiccup's cheek, "I've changed too much, way too fast. Toothless," he sighed. "Didn't understand."

"I've changed very quickly too," Hiccup was lowered gently into his father's saddle, "Sometimes change is too fast for some people, but we will find Toothless."

"Toothless is dead," Hiccup croaked, fraught with sorrow.

"No, he isn't." Fishlegs explained. "I saw it, the big green dragon didn't swallow. He wanted to eat you."

"Perfect," the chief said dryly as fainted peacefully.

II. The Lucky Cat Cafe...

"Hiro," Honey Lemon wrapped an arm around her friend securely as he was picking at his chow mein.

"Honey!" He bolted to attention.

All his friends excluding Baymax at the moment were staring at him oddly again. Hiro grinned his terrifically phony grin: _Please get a life, you guys._

"So..." GoGo looked down at her plate, glanced up and very subtly winked at Fred. "Today was... a little rocky." she glanced at Hiro and then Honey. "Fred?"

"I don't think the 3rd guy in charge of San Fransoyko had a good grasp on how much firmer claws are. The secret to a good manshake is not to be a man at all..."

GoGo sighed and shook her head slightly.

Hiro stood up then and addressed his team seriously.

"Guys, Big Hero 6 means a lot to me; it's my job to make sure team morale is high, our equippment is all fuctional, but most of all, it's my duty to ensure we're leading the world into the 2020's and doing it right."

"Is this another little-brother-living-in-the-shadow thing?" Honey Lemon anxiously stated the obvious.

"Sort of." He smiled and came around the table to fit in between his four friends, "This is about me leaving that shadow behind. Girls," he winked at GoGo who didn't react back, "I've been accepted to Henderson."

"WHOA!" Wasabi bellowed, slapping Hiro's back.

"All right!" Fred pumped his fists while running in place.

"Muy bueno!" Honey shook his shoulders slightly.

GoGo beamed and gave him a tight, quick hug, "Is that all?" she asked with a laugh, "Don't scare us like that. We were worried you'd relasped or something."

"You guys don't mind?"

"I'm already renting out your room," His aunt called out as she passed by him. Hiro breathed with relief.

"This is great," he jumped around to face them, "I'm going to start developing more personalized robots for healthcare, uh... uh, revolutionalize the industry, of course." He grinned cockily. They humored him.

Fred's face fell as he realized something.

"I know, I know Fred. We'll have to work out BH6."

"No," he pointed at the door to the stairs, "Baymax."

Everyone turned to the loveable, fully-charged robot.

To be continued...


	5. Unlikeable outcomes

I. TLCC...

Baymax made his way over to his friends on his soft, stubby legs. Hiro leaned around to start to tell him, choked, then jerked back around. This was without a doubt the most ridiculous predicament Hiro could be in. He was a _robot _for crying out loud! It's not like he would be personally affected plus his team was just being dramatic. Hiro would tell Baymax and that would be that.

Nothing else to worry about.

"Hiro, you wanted to tell Maxie something?"

_Thank you, Honey._

Hiro contemplated how best to explain this while the team ranged from cheesy grins to honestly sad faces. The teen stared at them for a moment and then gave Baymax a much more vulnerable look. He blinked.

"My sensors indicate severe levels of anxiety, your fight-or-flight response may be inevitable. I would-,"

"Baymax, sit down." Hiro pulled his robot best friend into the suddenly available seat beside him. "Buddy," he felt a lump in his chest as he looked at the simple, unassuming face of Baymax. Why was this so hard?

"Your pituitary gland..."

"Baymax, I'm leaving."

The collective release of breath was not reassuring.

Baymax blinked again. "Treatments include examining your major stressors, relaxation techniques and proper breathing exercises. I also recommend a doctor's visit."

Hiro let Baymax run his gamut. "Baymax, did you hear me?" That lump was suddenly in his throat. _Just get it._

The promising head tilt came.

"You said you are leaving, where are you going?"

He released his own breath. "Henderson Health Tech."

"Henderson Health Tech, is 436 miles that way."

Hiro smiled as he pointed and GoGo said where was Baymax when they went out to Lake Tahoe last year.

"Baymax," The teen placed his hand on the robot's arm. "I've been accepted to H.H.T., I'm going to be building thousands of healthcare robots just like you."

"What about Big Hero 6, what will we do?"

"It'll still be here."

"Yeah," Fred was the next to voice the team's "shared" optimism. "_We're _not going defunct, B, just # 1 here."

"When will we be leaving?" Baymax asked Hiro.

"_We?_"

"You and I." The puffy robot clarified in innocence.

Baymax was so sweet and kind, like a small couldn't Hiro just die? But he had to finish this before anything else. "Baymax, you're staying here. With our friends. _I'm _going to Henderson Tech," Baymax didn't argue or anything, "And _I'll_ see you when I'm visiting."

"We'll always take care of you," Honey reassured.

"Yeah," Wasabi chimed in,"Worst comes to worst, we mail ya to him with a bunch of return labels, Baymax."

Everyone laughed and chatted nervously amongst each other. Baymax didn't seem to react to any of it, he did not have an expression at all. Hiro knew this was cake.

"So we'll video chat," he said as he leapt up, readying himself to go upstairs and get his things, "and I'll see you on Turkey Day." Hiro turned on his heel to leave.

"If you go, who will be my patient?"

This was asked as the teen had his back to Baymax.

Hiro looked over his shoulder, "What?" he said.

Baymax looked him in the eyes, "It is beneficial for you to go and help humanity. This is very good news."

"Uh-huh," Hiro agreed and waited.

The robot stared at him but that was all, he couldn't formulate a reaction beyond that let alone ask him not to go. But Hiro couldn't take him anyway. The teen breathed in and out easily, Baymax was still just a robot. He could pack up and leave and Tadashi's machine would find a new patient, maybe an orphan or something. Hiro was free to leave. His friends wished him well and left too.

The teen was just at the base of the stairs when he felt a large belly barely touch his back. He turned to look up at Baymax. Hiro re-discovered something he had been secretly thinking about and hadn't wanted to see again, he waited for Baymax to speak. But, he didn't.

"O.K. Maxie," Hiro started to climb the stairs.

"Who will be my friend when you leave?"

The young man froze on the fourth step with a horrified look, _this _was what he'd been afraid of. If anyone found out, there would be serious, legal consequences. Hiro turned sadly to look at the bot.

"I don't know." The lump in his throat cascaded to his chest and heart. Baymax didn't diagnose him. "I want you to stay inside, Baymax. Don't leave without me."

"But you are leaving without me," Baymax said.

It wasn't with emotion he said this, but it _was._

"It's different." Hiro's voice was heavy.

"How?" Baymax asked innocently.

"BECAUSE I SAID SO!"

The teen slammed the door shut and mourned silently.

Baymax would be taken and destroyed if anyone found out he had residual human emotion, it was a felony.

II.

Berk...

The village waited, watching the skies for signs of their returning defenders. Astrid rubbed her belly slightly and Valka slipped her another glance. The blonde made a face.

"I'm telling you, it's inflammation from one of Storm Fly's quills." The older woman smiled knowingly when a Viking called his sighting of them. Both women watched anxiously.

"There's not enough dragons, is there?" Astrid asked Valka.

"No," she answered just as ominously.

They rushed to emcompass the younger Vikings so fast that Valka and Astrid had to pull back bodies to get to them. It was no question that Valka was the loudest, the former wife of the chief notwithstanding, as she and a few other Vikings went to examine Hiccup moaning and groaning in the large, leather saddle he just barely could fit in; and not because he was too big for it, either. Astrid combed his bangs back as he tried to catch his breath and say what happened.

"Where's Toothless?!"

Astrid pretended not to cringe at the first words out of her future mother-in-law's mouth as she asked him softly what had happened and if he was all right. But... he couldn't. Hiccup faded in and out on consciousness, so Astrid immediately hoisted him over her shoulder and delivered him to the hands of anxious but helpful villagers who took him to their medical ward right away. She had to clench her fists as Valka kept questioning.

"Is he _alive?!_"

The four Berkians looked at each other, wondering what to say. Eret stepped in between them and the nearly-imploding Valka to deliver the news that Toothless had been captured.

"By Drago?" Her voice was venom.

Cloudjumper appeared behind her then, reacting to a signal.

"No, by a... uh, it's some kind of green, crystal dragon."

"Accordingly, it's nearly as big as a Bewildebeast."

They all looked at Fishlegs, who shrugged.

"Crystal... green." Valka's eyes flashed open wide. "A Charmamillion, it's named for the millions of crystals on it's back and the way it charms it's victims into it's clutches."

"Sounds about right," Tuffnut said, flipping a braid back.

"We must go after him," Valka threw a leg over her four-winged dragon, "There's no time to lose." She was caught.

Cloudjumper and her looked down in great surprise at Astrid who had Valka by the arm like a vise. "You have a _son_."

"I have a duty to my dragons," Valka firmly gave a pat to Cloudjumper's neck.

Astrid caught her by the hand this time. "You have a duty to your _son._" she emphasized.

"He's got the village!" The woman jerked her arm free and made a sweeping motion at them.

"He hasn't got his father." Astrid countered quietly.

Valka looked ready to snap at her when the two saw Ruffnut bumping his sister's arm and whispering to Snoutlout and Fishlegs, who grinned and nodded. All the other Vikings were still just perplexed at what to do.

"Ugh! Fine." She hopped down. "Have it your way, but _don't_ go without me." Valka looked pointedly at her big, proud dragon who grunted his assent.

Astrid grimaced and shook her head.

Eret approached her from behind. "Not at all like her son, is she?"

"Not entirely." She allowed.

"Are we still goin'?" Snoutlout jerked his thumb back in the direction they came from.

"Oh, totally." Astrid said, flinging a leg over Storm Fly.

Cloudjumper squawked in confusion.

"We have to rescue Toothless, but _someone _needs to stay with Hiccup." She explained.

Still confused, the Stormcutter chirruped and laid back down.

"Good boy," Astrid nodded for someone to toss him a fish and the team flew off in search of the Charmamillion.

To be continued...


	6. One last save

I. Last night at the S.F. Institute of Technology...

It was dark out and Hiro missed the way the light swerved in from the dark blue window, he missed the way the moon would sometimes stream in and highlight his brother's long form. Now all Hiro could do was stare with wide, miserable eyes at the square figure charging rather unnecessarily at the wall that was opposite him. Breathing silently, he sat up now.

With a barely-firm clasp on his fission wrench, Hiro stepped over quietly in his brother's old socks; he'd gotten into the habit of wearing a few pieces of his brother's clothes that fit him now. The boy came to stand before his brother's robot awkwardly and in that moment again wished for the shadowy alcove.

"It's now or never," he whispered in the voice a kid might use when jumping on a train or putting down his dog, "this or the other outcome." Hiro justified.

He knew Baymax was going beyond the legal level of setience allowed for a robot. This had to be the better option. This _had _to be the only good option.

The only real problem was Hiro would never see this Baymax again; his memory would be wiped. Any attempt at back-up disks could be destroyed and with Baymax in public frequently time was of the essence. Either Hiro did this or another would.

...

Through his grey-and-blue tinted screen, Baymax watched as Hiro leaned towards him with a tool in his hand. The eyes looking down on him were much like the ones he remembered back inside the portal, but very different as well. Baymax sensed a deeper disturbance in Hiro's body; and Baymax wasn't just sensing it bodily either. This was something strange.

Hiro paused, caught his breath like he had earlier that day and tried again. Baymax waited. Hiro did not do anything, he just sat on his knees and gazed miserably down at Baymax. Sighing and closing his eyes, Hiro stood slowly and dangled his wrench to his hip. The boy slumped away and jotted down a note, he then placed it on his bed and left the room.

Baymax re-inflated with some new knowledge: His patient had relasped and friendship wasn't emough to heal him. There was something else Hiro needed.

II. Inside the Charmamillion...

Toothless flung himself against the sharp, shard-like crystal stomach of the giant, serpentine dragon as it pounded the air with wings longer then a Timberjack and more powerful then the Red Death. No, the big, black dragon thought as he steadied himself, he had fought and beaten both these types and many others.

There wasn't a dragon or a person in the _world _the Night Fury feared for he had defeated both. Letting out a breathy snort, Toothless surveyed the limited light source in the lattice ceiling up above him. The knowledge that it had been Hiccup who had helped him quenched at the dragon's heart. He curled in on himself and let out a chest-searing bellow of regret.

Because Toothless hadn't accepted the changes he and Hiccup were required to make he might never see his best friend again. He would never see Berk again or his family. The dragon wrapped up inside of his own wings as the snake-like lizard flew onwards towards the mountains into an oncoming storm.

The Charmamaillion hadn't flinched once when the Night Fury had pelted it with welting plasma blasts.

III. Outside of the San Fransoyko bay...

Hiro dropped the heavy, homemade jetpack down on the surface of the broken control panel. He knew what he was doing could get him into big trouble, could alienate him from everyone he cared about and potentially cast Big Hero 6 into a dark light.

Pushing down a switch on his portable, control -panel box, Hiro watched with determination as the mini-portal he had constructed from parts of the one Callaghan hadn't stolen lit up in a beautiful, violet - colored vortex. Hiro sighed and placed his chipped helmet on. The suit had been in a glass case back at Aunt Cass's, along with a copy of his emuncipation papers. He walked up to the illuminated wormhole.

"I'm comin', buddy."

Just as Hiro was set to enter it, a bright, blue light came hurtling at him. His face stretched in horror and he leapt out of the way just in time as a high - pitched wail blew past him and destroyed his only means of reaching the geniune Baymax prototype.

Hiro clutched his side and stumbled away from his failed endeavour. Outside, he tentatively removed his hand and saw blood coated along his glove. He let out a pained "ugh" and saw that his old suit had barely protected him from being scorched. He felt tears well up in his eyes as he realized the jetpack, partially made out of Baymax's damaged arm, wasn't salvagable. The police would pick him up soon, too.

He miserably looked out at San Fransoyko when the sound of jet-propulsion made him jump to attention. The familiar apple red suit descending upon Hiro left his entire being calm and his eyes dry. Baymax landed with incident and Hiro dashed over to hug him. Never had he been so thankful to preserve his brother's chip, never had he felt so safe and loved.

Hiro felt his best friend's arms go around him and that was enough, Baymax didn't diagnose and Hiro didn't care enough to worry. Neither said anything because they both knew Hiro was safe. There was no humorous banter or brotherly slap fights, Baymax was not mad or upset. He couldn't be. Hiro giddily climbed onto the back of his bulky robot like Baymax had always existed to be like this and sighed in relief as he clutched the back of him.

The robot watched him do this and then took flight.

...

Toothless, disoriented from the explosion, shook his head and released a huge breath as he stumbled out of the fenced enclosure. But that was nothing when the first sight of skyscrapers hit his green eyes. What kind of mountains were these? A passing barge gave him an idea. Toothless looked over his shoulder to see if there was anything left that was worth saving.

Unable to find anything, the dragon jumped aboard.

To be continued...


	7. New views

I. Back in Hiro's college dorm...

Hiro craddled his wounded side as Baymax carried him gently into the quiet room. A pink tinge of color was just starting to light the sky.

"Thanks, buddy," he said as he slipped out of his friends arms and limped over to his bed. Though Baymax had taken him to a 24-hour Urgent Care unit, Hiro was still mystified, "Are you sure you don't want me to refill your canisters, Baymax?"

"Negative, you need your rest." The robot told him. Hiro looked at him in concern; this wasn't normal for him. "Would you prefer I deactivate?"

Hiro sighed softly and asked in the same tone Baymax always used. "Could you come here?"

His heart hurt a little as Baymax hesitated, looked up and then waddled over to him. "I can only scan you once my sensory lenses have been calibrated."

"I..." Hiro couldn't respond to this.

The professional tone was hollow somehow, but Hiro fought back the urge to voice his own fears. Baymax tilted his head as he, too, held back. He craned it back up. "I am sorry you are hurting, I know you leave tomorrow, and I cannot advise a proper treatment without refined programming."

Hiro hadn't examined his brother's chip at all in the days leading up to his best friend's recovery other then to made sure all the ends still fuctioned well.

"Baymax," Hiro sat up carefully, Baymax began to reach out to help him but then paused and looked into Hiro's eyes, "you're so much more then just my brother's last experiment, I mean, you're not like other robots and I think you know that too."

"I am unsure if I am comfortable with hearing this, Hiro. When you inspect Tadashi's chip I will be-,"

"Baymax, you're my best friend." Hiro stood up.

The rotund robot reached out to stabilize him in what Baymax discovered was causing him even further inner confliction, when Hiro reached out immediately in response and hugged him. Afraid Baymax would protest or would tell Hiro he had to leave and never return, the boy clutched onto him tighter. Hands hovered over Hiro's back, resisting.

"Hiro, as much as I believe it would help you, I cannot engage in this action until you scan me."

Hiro pressed his light brown cheek meaningfully against Baymax's tummy. "Baymax, I want you to come to Henderson Tech with me," he looked up hopefully, Baymax blinked at this. "I thought that I would have enough of an idea since we've spent so much time together, but now I want a live model."

"I... do not believe I would be the best candidate."

Hiro touched his chin to his chest, then looked up to try again. "I'm asking you as my friend, as my healthcare bot and as my superhero partner, will you come with me, Baymax? I want you there."

"But do you _need _me?" He levelled with Hiro.

"Yes," Hiro answered automatically.

Baymax fell back and walked away from Hiro. "I would suggest upgrades to my programming if I am to accompany you, Hiro." he returned to his chip's protocol. Hiro was dismayed, but Baymax seemed to be elsewhere mentally. "You know I can only deactivate when you are satisfied with your care." If Baymax felt sad, he hid it adeptly.

This was exactly why Hiro thought he might be able to take Baymax with him. He quietly slid his legs under his sheets and turned away from him, saying so softly no one should have heard Hiro:

"I'm satisfied with my care."

Baymax closed his eyes and deactivated, but not before he realized the prayer-like way Hiro spoke.

II. - Toothless in San Fransoyko...

All the noise in the world surrounded the alarmed lizard, there were creatures that drove by him on the rumbling land dragon he had boarded. He did not know what these smaller creatures were made of but they smelled like volcano fumes and black.

Toothless knew it wasn't a healthy form of black. He scratched at his nose and gave a loud yelp of surprise when the dragon he was riding screeched to a stop. The ship he had been on had passed by the smelly docks of San Fransoyko and Toothless had taken the first opprotunity he'd gotten to jump.

Now he was regretting it.

When the rumbling dragon started up again, the Night Fury tensed up and then jumped overboard. A herd of dragons on strange feet came at him. He balked at the shrill sounds coming out of them and began having to dodge them as they flew at him. It mystified him how these dragons had no wings and yet had the speed to plow him down if he let them.

But wait, Toothless was faster.

He stopped and spread his wings out as he bent down, issuing a warning snarl as a long, red thing stopped in an abrupt halt and startled expressions _inside _the dragon made Toothless raise his head a bit more then quizzically. Two arms extended out from two people riding in the dragon and flashes of light blinded Toothless as their shock was replaced by laughter and glee. Disgusted, the Night Fury led himself around the truck and was assaulted entirely in the same fashion by other humans riding inside their own land dragons. Toothless screeched at the onslaught of flashes and exclaimation. Once it was clear they were getting out, Toothless jerked away and saw the chance he needed. He pounced up to the top of the truck. Their enthusiasm soon turned to confusion and then to anger. Toothless let this fuel his endeavor as he sprinted across the tops of the dragons like stepping stones over a rushing, angry river that never stopped roaring all while he had to dodge the flashes of light that kept coming at him as if they were clashes of lightening attacking him personally. Toothless finally reached the mountain pass and rushed quickly alongside the land dragons speeding the opposite way of him.

He covered himself with his wings and slinked into a dark alleyway not entirely lit by what Toothless discovered was early dawn. Wait, this couldn't be right. It hadn't even been night yet. He dropped his head wearily and covered himself up.

To be continued...


	8. The trials of trust: Pt 1 of 2

I. Valka and Hiccup...

She stood in the same home Stoic's parents had built and lived in, the same home she had spent her first night with him. Though Valka normally spent her nights with Cloudjumper out under the stars or in the stables during bad weather - which was often - she felt his comforting presence. Her mind, however, remembered. Hiccup laid resting over on the bed him and Astrid shared; hers and Stoic's had been huge, but there'd still been room.

Valka walked over and ran her hand down along her son's temple to his jawline. She bent down to his level, ignoring the small space on the right that was just enough room for Astrid. Valka looked up.

She took a breath, "I suppose now is the time to tell you that I love you," the woman ran her hand up his face this time, "The truth is I don't know it's meaning, m'self. I am sorry I never tried with you, dear, but since returning to Berk I feel...restricted!"

"I feel like..." she swept her hand multiple times down his face quickly. "I feel so trapped. Oh! I am a horrid mother, I know that. I've sensed several of my kind... the dragons, of course. Who aren't happy in this life. I'd a said something sooner, but, we've been spending so much time together. It's been so wonderful, your asking for my advice and such..."

She sighed as her hand lingered on Hiccup longer this time. "I don't wanna leave you, but you have a duty here and I can't stand in your way. I could go but it would be so hard now. How could I do that?"

Hiccup touched her hand and she looked up with a gasp. Valka saw him staring at the ceiling with his eyes half-open and looking pensive when he said:

"Mom, you know a lot about Toothless. More then I could pick up," he looked over to her with a need to know, "can you tell me how he's been feeling? If there's something that's happened to unsettle him?"

"Maybe he remembers what Drago made him do."

"Maybe," He touched her shoulder. "But recently?"

Valka met his eyes. "I really haven't been-,"

"Mom," Hiccup smiled at her, "I love you. Trust me, I know what you're feeling inside. Right now I've gotta know how Toothless is feeling inside."

"Who'll stay and watch Berk?" She pointed out.

Hiccup swallowed, they thought so much alike.

"I'll stay until Astrid and the others come back."

Valka lowered her defenses; he understood.

She knew he'd heard her every word in return.

"It was about two weeks ago, son."

...

"Berk was a chilled, wet place this day," Valka told him. "I was with some of my old friends, showing them the ways of dragons, while you waited on the docks for some fur traders. That day saw you at..."

Hiccup rubbed his coal-splotched hands together in anticipation - and because it was getting colder by the minute - men were coming to hopefully set up a new trade post with Berk and he was on Nadder quills and needles. Eret slapped his shoulder now.

"This is a great thing you're doing, Hiccup," he told the man, "more revenue for Berk will mean we can move beyond your primitive fishing and hunting to a real "trade"." He laughed and Hiccup did as well.

Uncomfortably.

The chief politely removed Eret's hand. "I'm really counting on this revenue to help maintain Berk. It's ususally my father who rallies everyone to prepare for the coming frost but everyone's more interested in dragon racing and learning new techniques, Eret.

It's like we're all speaking two languages on Berk."

"Huh, a different language? You'd have to travel to a new world to do that," he rolled back his muscled shoulders and breathed in and out proudly. "You've taught me so much, I'm honored to help all of you."

Hiccup nodded a little uneasily at him. "I'm glad you're helping usout too," he agreed. Eret stuck out his lower lip and nodded back. Both men let their eyes shift to the horizon; Hiccup appreciated Eret's help, honestly, but sometimes it felt weird.

Like the man had other plans in mind for Berk.

...

"It's that obvious, huh?" Hiccup smiled waveringly.

Valka looked at her son with tenderness and ran her fingers up-and-down his cheek as she went on:

...

A gaggle of men came to Berk, many Vikings were already tucked away for the night and so when Hiccup walked by with a latern leading strange men past their homes they slipped into hiding or watched warily; it would seem with no chief to guide or reassure them they were merely humans speculating on how they should react now.

Hiccup raised his hand to wave at them in what he thought was a sign that everything was all right, but the rising uncertainity in his heart and the slanted eyes of dragons that glowed on the rooftops didn't help. This hurt him inside, but he didn't expose it.

Eret slapped his shoulder again, "Hiccup, this is Morque, Swamp Gas and Cree Daughter of Cree."

"But he's a boy." The chief whispered.

"Don't tell him that," he wasn't as quiet.

"Gentle... uh, men, please come into my - uh - ," Hiccup spotted Astrid stitching some of her hide off to the other side of the foyer, "_our, _home." It didn't help that she was instantly supicious. "Hi."

"Hi," she rose from her chair and Hiccup saw her fingers twitch towards her battle ax. Nothing ever really changed, it seemed. "Who are these guys?"

"Friends," Eret responded confidently.

"Acquaitances," Hiccup tried less successfully.

"A median to the merchants," Morque explained.

They were your typical rough-and-tumble bunch.

Astrid was instantly distrustful of the smooth and eloquent trader. "Hiccup!" she snapped. The chief steered her towards the door, his finacee was ready for a fight but Eret draped a "comforting" arm over her. She knocked it off violently and pointed at the newcomers, saying, "I'm watching you," then left in a huff. Eret was close behind her as she swore loud and angrily that Berk no longer felt like her home.

Hiccup swallowed, motioned them in and sat down as Eret closed the door. Astrid stormed away, felt a seething wrath steal over her and whirled around to face Eret. A big hand instantly clamped her mouth shut. Eret was glowering but her fright caused him to smile wickedly. He moved her fifteen feet away.

"Now look," he was very quiet, she was terrified as well as confused. "I never said I was the good guy, I work for the toughest and the most bountiful. It's going to happen like this Astrid, I don't want any of you to get hurt and neither do you. _Our _home here on Berk is prime real estate for a tiny trading post."

She stopped quivering but her eyes never looked less wide. "I know you nor the other Berkians are fighters, you're really just pansies who let dragons do all the work for you." she seethed again. "Please don't misunderstand, _nothing _is going to harm you unless you reveal our secrets. Once Hiccup is open and onboard, everything goes back to normal. If it's let out that these men are unsavory and may in fact store goods here that are not "acceptable", then I'm

afraid Hiccup may get the worst of it." He stood up as she lay sprawled out on the ground. "To sum it up, don't get in our way. Nothing else will change."

...

"Why didn't you tell me?" Hiccup asked, appalled.

"I couldn't," Valka looked up miserably, "Believe you me, I _tried. _When I saw the whole thing while treating Storm Fly's quills for poison oak, the first thing I wanted to do was tell you. Astrid and I had been talking about it, but you were so happy and I, I couldn't lost you too." she touched his hand. "If you let on that you know now, then those traders-,"

"Those traitors," Hiccup yanked on his boots.

"Hiccup!"

"Mom," He took her hand and squeezed it hard. "Thank you for telling me." Hiccup kissed her on the cheek once, "Get as many of your dragons as you can to safety," he stepped out of his home and addressed the village even as Valka tried arguing.

"Everyone!" he caught their attention, "I know all of you have been frightened and uncertain about a lot of things these last few months, I want to take this moment to apologize. Toothless, Astrid and my mother were trying to warn me of your fears and concerns for a while now, but I didn't listen."

He sighed and shook his head.

"I wouldn't listen," he turned to them all again in a leader's manner, "We need to fortify the island and cut off all contact with the outside world. I want all your weapons out and your dragons ready to fight."

"Hiccup, this isn't what I had in mind." Valka said.

"Mom," he turned to her, resigned, "I can't be like you anymore." She wilted visibly, Hiccup had to steady himself as well, "I want half of you coming with me on a rescue mission, the other half stay on your toes and _fight _if they come. Fight like only a Viking knows how." He looked at his mother once.

"This isn't the way to do this," She tried to argue.

Hiccup's green eyes flattened. "I'm sorry, Mom."

He hitched a ride on a small Fireworm and rode in the lead as the rider of this dragon rode on the back of another dragon with it's rider. Valka sighed, let her eyes travel to the Vikings who looked around at one another and then met Gobber's eyes. He got in motion right away and rallied everyone together.

Valka nodded, mostly to herself, and led her nest away from Berk. She knew of a place they would be safe and then she had her own rescue to make.

But Astrid's words and actions still stayed with her.

To be continued...


	9. The trials of trust: Pt 2 of 2

I. The back alleys of San Fransoyko...

Toothless wandered listlessly through the fence -boarded paths on concrete. Occasionally he would look up but it was all the same; hard, noisy pillars that Toothless could see lit up from top to bottom.

He sighed to himself as he remembered. That was when he suddenly caught the strong, briny whiff of something fishy and delicious. The famished lizard launched himself forward in a burst of speed, only to come across a large, overall-wearing man who had his back turned to Toothless. The dragon laid his body close to the ground as fish were dumped.

His tongue lolling out like a bowser, Toothless immediately went over to investigate. Only the sad, blank eyes of dead fish heads were there to repel the disgusted dragon and rapid-fire flashes of lightening to blind him. He stole away quickly.

Toothless lurched miserably onward and somehow found himself recalling when he had first started to feel so out-of-place in his own home. _Hiccup..._

...

"My dragon should be here somewhere, but there's still plenty of room to sit," Hiccup told the "weary" travellers as they all examined the expanse of dark corners and ceiling rafters as if they were making mental notes. Something crept along a long beam.

Unseen.

"Quite a set-up you got here," The lead trader said.

"Uh... sure." Hiccup remarked uncomfortably, he then remembered how hungry his village would be and how quiet it had been around the island since all these dragons had arrived. "So! Oolong tea?" he prompted, bringing a fresh batch of the brew over.

"A real Viking drinks mead and beer."

"A-hehehehe, so we do." Hiccup sat down with his legs squated open as he talked. "You know it's odd, we actually don't have a lot of visitors to Berk," as he said this, a pair of green eyes slid over his head.

"Is yor dragon eh Night Fury?" Swamp Gas asked.

"Yeah!" Hiccup looked over his shoulder, but his dragon was already gone. "Huh, where did he get to?" Toothless leered at them sideways at the now unsettled-looking men from behind Hiccup's back.

"Ah, mate?"

"He's never been this skittish..." The man wiped his hands on his shirt absently, trying not to let his worry show. "Well, anyway," he shrugged, "I think we can definitely..." Toothless appeared again over his head and huffed a breath through his nose. This time Hiccup caught him and glared his way. Taken by "shock", Toothless gum-grinned at him and slid away.

"What's gotten into that dragon...?" Hiccup asked more to himself then the others. "Oh! We're out of honey, be right back..." When Hiccup had his back turned, Morque dumped out his tea as did the rest.

"Let's git down ta business," He set down his cup. "You want to improve upon this village? You are goin' ta haff ta take some... "artistic liberities." he slapped his hands together, Hiccup repeated this uncertainly over his shoulder. "Yes. Eret as well as his father have done business with us in the-,"

Drip.

Morque looked up; nothing. Curious.

"Anyways," he started his spiel again,"we could turn Berk into a-," Drip! Everyone looked up to see a faintly snarling Toothless hanging by his tail on a beam. Hiccup instantly got on to the dragon.

"_Toothless_! You come down here _now._"

Toothless squawked in protest and tried to motion his disapproval of these unfriendly-looking bandit types when the beam cracked. "Toothless," Hiccup was horror-stricken. The Night Fury looked up at the beam quizzically. He then collasped entirely to the floor, taking most of the beams and a big chunk of ceiling down with him that was visible after the dust settled; Hiccup was absolutely livid with him.

"TOOTHLESS! Look at this! Look at what you did to my father's house," he exploded. The dragon just let out a whine and motioned with his nose at their befuddled company. "Toothless, do you not get it?

Do you not _understand _that winter is coming and I have entire village to feed?!" Toothless slowly let his nose tilt down, Hiccup knew exactly what he was doing but he could not stop. He tried more softly but still managed to sound unconvincing as he led his dragon outside. "This is real time, bud."

Toothless whined softly.

"You have your own hungry tummies to think of," Hiccup didn't pause long as Toothless craned his head quizzically. "We'll talk about this later, bud."

He closed the door securely. Toothless whimpered and came up to paw at it; it wouldn't open. He tried nosing it open, still it wouldn't. He discovered then that Hiccup had locked him out. Toothless whined and waited outside for his best friend to unlock it.

It was late into the night and the men, with Hiccup properly remedied of his tea obsession, walked out noisily from the Haddock home. A pair of green eyes glowed as they "teetered" back to their ship.

Hiccup stood in a dizzy, visibly unstable state as he mumbled to himself. Toothless jumped down from the food cellar and came up to Hiccup expectantly.

The man barely noticed him there as he snickered softly under his breath and stumbled back inside. Toothless followed close behind but was pushed back by an invisible force as the door closed again. He sniffed at the heavy wood and gave it a lonely scratch. No one came to let him back in, however. As Toothless curled up outside, he didn't realize then the long hours Hiccup would be gone or that he would be trapped in his own world of craziness.

Toothless certainly didn't know _he _would be too.

III. Presently, at Fred's mansion...

Hiro with a dufflebag under one arm, shoulders slumping from the heavy backpack strapped to him and his other hand pulling a piece of luggage along like it was no more then another bag, determinedly if not grimly marched to the Lee's front door. Fred was already out the door and embracing his friend.

"Did you make sure you gave Baymax a big one?"

"Yeah..." He absently looked back at his left hand.

"_And_ your Aunt Cass?" GoGo lightly ascertained as Honey ran down to join in the hug. Hiro nodded meekly as Wasabi came down yawning a big yawn.

"You sure getting up at six-thirty was a good idea?" He scratched his underarm as he checked his silver Rolex. "Yeah," he stretched. "_Definitely_ too early."

"Guys, thanks for meeting up this early." Hiro said.

They all smiled proudly at him.

Honey was almost beaming, "Of course, 'Hiro."

"Now get on that plane already," GoGo kidded.

"Actually..." Hiro had to compose himself; he was planning on making a break for it. "_Fred,_" he gave his friend the biggest brown eyes he could, and for once even Fred wasn't taking his crap. "I'm asking, no, _begging _you to take Baymax in while I leave."

" 'Hiro, why?" Honey was the first to ask worriedly.

Hiro looked down at his shoes; naturally enough, they were both untied. "Baymax has overriden his original programming," he sighed, "he has free will."

To be continued...


	10. Of visitors and revelations

I. In Fred's room...

"Are you scared for your safety?" GoGo asked.

Her unusual concern for Hiro's physical well-being didn't strike a cord with him, he rubbed the top of Baymax's red charger loyally. "He'd never hurt me, no matter if he had free will or not," he still peered with his own mixed concern into Baymax's optics.

He wondered if he was watching and listening.

"There shouldn't be secrets in the team," Wasabi scratched the giant green "W" on his robe's breast.

"Speaking of which, Honey and I got here like ten minutes ago. What's your excuse?" GoGo gestured.

The three lounged on Fred's wrap-around while he rummaged through his fridge. Wasabi fidgeted out of habit. "Honestly... the dude can't bathe himself."

"What?!" Honey turned to him from the middle.

"It's true," Wasabi whispered with his hand up as Hiro tried to access Baymax's chip port and Fred was entering with a tray of goodies. "I gotta run it, check it, mix some bubble bath in it, stir it all up-,"

"Check it again," Fred listed casually from behind him, making Wasabi jump, "Make sure Mr. Quack Quack has his little life vest on; and Heathcliff's on the mend from measles, so another week tops bro."

He plopped down in between Honey and GoGo.

She leered at Wasabi flatly, "You've been here _how_ long?" When he explained that he had been kicked out of his apartment because he hadn't paid his rent on time, Hiro perked up. "Besides, I've got a ride and Fred's got a room; Works out perfectly."

"Dude, by the way. We gotta go shop for mayo."

Wasabi wilted.

"I didn't know you were in hot water, Bi." Hiro approached him. "If you want, Aunt Cass has our old room for rent." When Hiro realized what that would mean, Wasabi smiled sagely and told him thanks anyway. "Is hero work really interfering?"

"We wanna keep helping, Hiro, and we will. It's about sacrifice, remember?" Honey shrugged and smiled, albeit wearily. "You have a new dream to continue Tadashi's legacy, that's what we support."

"We'll take good care of Baymax," Fred promised.

As the four started into their sandwichs, Hiro let out a sigh. He waved away their offer and turned one last time to Baymax. "Do you think he's mad?"

"He can't hear you, Hiro." Honey offered.

"But what if he's overidden his programming?"

"Where's his diffuser valve?" Wasabi asked, again the team was more concerned with Hiro landing a spot in jail then a possible Baymax uprising. "We all know Tadashi's bot is harmless, but if you think this is for real, Hiro, Baymax needs to be scanned."

"I know, he keeps reminding me."

GoGo got up and moved Hiro's chin to look into her eyes. "We don't keep secrets, Hiro." When she said and looked at him this way, he froze in place.

Hiro had to wonder if she, too, could pull the truth out of him. The truth that the only valve that was compatiable with Baymax was floating off forever into hyper space, that he'd realized too late that his friend was indeed free-willed and that if Baymax went out in public it was bound to be revealed. If Hiro left now, leaving Baymax with someone he trusted, and built his own Baymax... or better yet, Hiro brightened. If Hiro retrofitted diffusers into a new set of bots, his could work eventually isolate key microscopic components - every diffuser was different in a robot - and possibly make a new one.

The portal being destroyed wasn't a total loss!

Hiro kissed GoGo square on the lips, was smacked hard across the chops and then happily unplugged the charging robot to take with him to H.T.T. He'd work day and night to make a new diffuser valve to repress Baymax's budding free will if he needed to scan Baymax a million times. He wheeled Baymax around, bade his friends goodbye and took off now.

"Don't worry, buddy, I'm going to take you with me and let you know what we're gonna do once we get in the airport bathroom. You and I are gonna come up with a plan that will stop your-," he spotted the Lee's coming home. If they saw him they might let Aunt Cass know. Hiro dove for the perfect hedges.

"Dear, what are we going to do if Tony comes over tonight? Heathcliff can't shop and you know he and Bruce don't care for pizza." Fred's mother asked of her husband as they started up the stairs past them.

"We can always ask the _other _Bruce-,"

"Oh, stop that!" She swatted him.

Hiro noticed how bright it was out.

_Dang it, _He checked the time on his SharpPhone.

8:31!

Some minor relief came when he heard the sound of a helicopter starting up and thrumming away; if it had been the other way around they'd been sunk.

"Hiro," The voice of Baymax made him tense up even more then before, their strange ailenation the last couple days made his eyes prick when he saw that Baymax had reinflated behind him. He gasped.

Baymax blinked and tilted his head just as normal as ever. This wasn't some rogue robot or someone who would in a million years lay his hand on him.

This was his friend.

The teenager grasped the soft, taut care bot around the middle. "Come with me, okay?" he urged him.

Baymax only hovered one hand over his back this time before dropping it to his side. "I have scanned Callaghan's wavelengths 268 feet from us." Hiro in that moment didn't care how Baymax had inflated or that his body scanner was suppose to be wonky.

"We gotta warn the others..." He stumbled out.

As Baymax went on to tell him that it was not the Callaghan he thought it was, a large black creature loomed in the opening to the cream-brick and iron fence that surrounded the Lee residence. Hiro was about to call for his friends when large appendages the color of the creature spread out and two green, highly expressive eyes met his. The teen gawked.

"Oh no," Baymax voiced Hiro's surprise.

Evidently he didn't know what to make of it either.

To be continued...


	11. Act fast, think later

I. The outskirts of San Fran, Upperclass Suberbia...

A young woman in a svelte trench coat walked up to the outside of a black limousine. She pulled out her ear piece and handed the whole thing to a long hand that casually opened as the window slid down. The person inside scoffed softly and looked back at her.

"I really can't believe you agreed to help me do this."

"Well," Abigal Callagan pulled down the flaps of her collar. "I couldn't imagine not doing anything after everything that's happened. Could you, Mister K?"

Alistar Krei smiled up with anticipation at the 25-year-old daughter of his former rival. "You could imagine _other _things happening if you wanted to."

She sighed and accepted his payment as they again exchanged hands with new white gloves. "We've got the evidence we need to start implicating my father."

"And the boy?" Krei pressed.

They both were somber as Abigal fetched one last look at the rear end of Lee Manor. "We'll be around, we'll get the evidence we need to prove that Tadashi Hamada's robot has free will." With that, she got in.

II. The front of the mansion...

Hiro wandered with unconcious, curious steps over to see if he could make out the creature better. The lizard-like animal shrugged it's big head over to the left and Hiro watched as it's green eyes lit up when they established each other's presense. Hiro felt his muscles tighten up as the great animal shrieked out a garbled, joyful noise and lunged straight for him.

Reality was definitely disconnected from him now.

The scrawny boy watched, petrified, as the excited, panting reptile with big, green eyes came bounding up to him. Neither had time to react as Baymax was quite literally inserting himself between the two of them. The lizard leapt over the robot with his huge tongue lolling off to the side. Hiro gaped as the big creature landed squarely on his friend's puffy head.

"Baymax!" He panicked.

"I am fine," the robot confirmed, indented down to his squishy belly, "Just squashed." Ascertained his friend was okay, the fourteen-year-old looked up.

There was nothing intentionally intimidating about the flappy, happy-looking creature. He had a sleek, black coat that glinted in the morning sunlight and a disarming intelligence that made Hiro release his breath and relax a bit. He smiled nervously at him.

The creature blinked and his expression _changed_. Hiro watched with awe as the large lizard perfectly mimicked him to a T. Hiro just stood there grinning like an idiot, his flight only four hours away, when pink gums in the animal's mouth caught his eye. He gave the lizard a bewildered smile and simply stated:

"Huh. Toothless."

"Toothless" was the picture of the blind discovering light. Hiro had no time to react as the lizard took this second opprotunity and easily pounced on top of his chest. But this time, Hiro heard his friends clamoring up on the stairs. He tried but failed to locate Baymax.

The reptile gazed down at him with narrowed eyes and he watched as it opened it's mouth wide. Right away GoGo gave a shout and the four suited up as they raced to his aid, Baymax held out a hand and called out Hiro's name in alarm, the teen glanced at him one final time before flinching back theatrically.

Nothing happened... and then a huge, rough tongue wet his cheek. Hiro let out another breath as the rest of Big Hero 6 all paused from what they were doing.

Number One looked up in expectation of a villian's assault and instead found big, round eyes only a split second before the giant tongue found surprised face again. Toothless caught him completely unprepared as the he lavished him in sloppy, happy kisses. Hiro held back for all of one second before bellowing out in laughter. The dragon left no part of him unbathed.

"No... no, stop!" Hiro tried in vain to reason with him as he continued on with his slobbery assault. "I'm not a dog person, Imma cat-," Lap! "I'm a cat-!" Lap, lap!

He was giggling, laughing in absolute rapture at the unconditional affections of this big lovebug. He was a kid again suddenly, Hiro was happy and carefree.

"Guys!" He called between laughs, reaching out for them in giddy desperation. "Help!" They just stood there with bewildered looks. Hiro turned to his still robot and belted out with a laugh. "Baymax, _help_!"

He rotated his head crucially. "You are not in any immediate danger, why are you calling for help?"

Hiro ignored him and giggled from underneath the dragon's relentless kisses. "Okay..." he gasped, his face red and wet as he pushed the dragon's snout away. "You win. I give up. I'm a dog... person." In that moment as Hiro stood up and really looked at him, he knew Toothless was his friend right away.

Recognition flitted out of the lizard's eyes, but in place of this was a deep satisfaction. It was like _he _had gotten something out of it just as meaningfully.

Hiro smiled tentatively at him and Toothless gave a huge grin in reply. His friends finally arrived around him and the dragon's eyes turned to slits, he hopped back defensively. As Hiro went over to help Baymax up, he winced with new anxiety at the tense standoff.

Why couldn't happy moments just _stay_ happy?

III. Eret, Astrid and the others...

Astrid was silent as she and Eret flew in the lead. The others trailed behind; without Hiccup's trained leadership giving them a formation, Astrid's confident commands or even Eret's boisterous nature, they were low on spirit and enthusiasm. Eret wasn't at all bothered by this but he did steal a concerned look towards Astrid.

"We haven't talked for a while," he mentioned.

"We're saving a dragon," she spat at him, "That should be the _only _thing on your mind."

Eret had an uncommon moment of modesty, mostly for their dragon's sake. "It's not all bad."

"It's worst then bad, it's _horrible!_" Astrid turned to him sharply. He wrinkled his nose. "No one feels safe, everyone is secretly afraid that the new merchants aren't going to keep their word on supplies for lease space. Eret, if you had any idea how... how _petrified _we are all!" Tears filled her eyes and her throat closed around her rising heart, StormFly screeched up at her in concern and Astrid stroked her head reassuringly. She sighed shakily. "It's hard to find someone who cares."

Eret looked down at SkullCrusher a moment and brought him closer to Astrid's side. "I care," he didn't hesitate to place his hand on her shoulder, she didn't look his way but just kept flying. StormFly looked up curiously "Despite what you may think, if you knew why we had to do this, you'd-," And just like that, Astrid grabbed his arm and swung.

His Rumblehorn squawked in alarm as Snoutlout suddenly tackled him and directed him away.

Ruffnut and Tuffnut leapt from their dragon and held Eret down on StormFly while Astrid bound his wrists.

"What're you DOING? This is _mutiny!_"

"Hardly," Ruffnut smirked, "If it was mutiny, we'd have taken out the guy in charge." Eret flashed his teeth at him.

Tuffnut sighed and tugged at one of the braids she had made in his hair. "Eret Son of Eret... now I gotta find a new man to crush on." she sadly undid his braids.

"I don't... I don't understand! You _knew _what would happen if you crossed me." Astrid turned away solemnly, Eret's brogue was thick with disdain. "These lads can be every bit as ruthless as Drago if they have to be!"

Astrid led the cheering Vikings onward.

"You'll be sorry! All of Berk will be-," Ruffnut stuffed a sock in his mouth.

Snoutlout grinned as he jumped back on Hookfang. "I'd say stuff a sock in it, but..." They all busted out laughing.

"Once a pirate, always a pirate." Ruffnut said.

Fishlegs flew in closer. "Shouldn't we at least give him a chance to explain why-,"

"No!" Astrid cut him off, they all looked to her in surprise. "Nothing good every comes of explaining anything," she glared at Eret who glared back at her before turning away. " We can't trust anyone out here, let's just get Toothless and go home. Winter's coming and we don't have time for anymore games." She ignored StormFly's pleading eyes as she led her riders out towards the mountain range the Charmamillion was sighted by Hiccup.

She prayed to the Gods he would survive, no matter what the cost.

To be continued...


	12. New direction

A/N: Most of this is going to be Toothless and Big Hero 6 for the next 3 or 4 chapters. Just them. Thanks. You will see Hiccup and Co. soon as I am going to update more frequently. Okay, enjoy the story peeps!

I. Toothless and the team...

When Hiro turned to see his friends coming down the stairs, he saw that they had stashed away their suits; those anti-matter anklets were really working.

They were wary but Toothless was examining them more as unexpected guests then intruders. When the dragon and Hiro met eyes again, a little smile flitted across his face. Toothless perked right back up then.

A gasp of breath near Hiro's ear made him jump.

"He's... _glorious!_" Fred exclaimed, still very much in his lizard suit. The teenager went barrelling down at the dragon, who aptly resumed his defensive crouch.

"Hold on, Freddie." Wasabi warned him casually as they came to flank him. "You gotta be careful, guy. We don't know what this thing is or what it'll do."

"You sound like a G-man." GoGo mentioned.

"What is it?" Honey asked seriously.

They all spread around Toothless as he crouched back and moved his head side-to-side anxiously. It was Hiro who talked softly to him and kept the big lizard's attention on his calm demeanor; it also was helpful that Baymax was closeby, he gave Hiro all the courage he needed to get closer to this creature.

"Maybe it's a giant, alien salmander," GoGo said as she circled one side with Wasabi, Fred and Honey were on the right. "I mean, unless some created it."

"Maybe it's a caiman." Wasabi speculated.

"Uh-huh, and what are _those _things on it's back?"

He frowned at GoGo. "Giant, mutant igunas?"

"Maybe it's animatronic," Honey gingerly lifted a wing tip, Toothless responded the way a surprised dog might by sniffing at her hand quickly. "Oh..." she pulled back.

Toothless croaked-squawked.

"Hi." She waggled her fingers at him. "I'm Honey."

He garbled out a long reply.

"Why don't we just call him Toothless?" Hiro said as he walked over and let his new friend sniff his hand before he rubbed his slit nose. "He seems like he's a little lost." The dragon pushed into his hand gently.

"Hello, fellow dragon." A clawed hand reached out.

This time Toothless only blinked fast before sniffing it. Fred went on about how this wasn't really a giant lizard man before promptly removing his blue claw.

Toothless was taken aback again as he then looked up at the three-eyed head before watching it slowly being removed. Then... the dragon actually cracked up. Baymax suddenly waddled up to Toothless and caused the dragon to balk in surprise; the bot waved.

"Hello, I am Baymax. May I scan you for damages?"

Hiro gave him a confused look. "I thought you said your scanner was broken, Maxie." His friend looked up at him and explained there was no protocol in his programming that prevented him from scanning non-human entities. Hiro wasn't convinced by this at all.

Toothless sniffed at Baymax's offered hand casually and then used his gummy mouth to chew on it as if it were a squeaky toy. He seemed to chuckle in a sort of perverse delight at these strange, hybrid creatures.

The others studied the equally strange creature from a safe distance as GoGo asked no one in particular if Toothless had lost the war on cavities, Baymax gave the dragon a quick scan which caused him to jolt up.

"His teeth are retractable, GoGo." Baymax explained informally before reciting professionally. "The vitals I give may not be an accurate approximation, but his heart beats are 500 per minute and his blood flow is pumping efficently," Toothless somehow saw the X-ray of his heart, squawked in alarm and covered up.

"Your brain waves are hardwired to instinct and are only able to stabalize with a strong show of will," In the time it took Baymax to say this, Toothless had a brain on his brain and quickly covered it up in great embarrassment. "Your dietary habits include pisces."

"Surf n' Turf?" Hiro looked at him.

Toothless growled at him and rubbed at his head.

Honey grew concerned. "I think you're hurting him."

Baymax instantly stopped all scanning and a ringing feedback noise caused Toothless shake his head in a violent motion. The robot convulsed all over his big, vinyl body and his eyes blinked wildly as fell to the ground with a gentle thump, giving garbled protocol.

"Baymax!" Hiro rushed to his side and grabbed his arm. A tightening of guilt in his chest back him all the more gentle as he helped his friend back up. It was this guilt that heightened his anxities. "Buddy, I'm feeling kind of weird. Can you... can you scan-?"

GoGo touched his arm and shook her head.

"Poor baby," Honey rubbed between the scaly flaps on the sides of his head, "He must have a headache."

Toothless moaned appreciatively.

Wasabi came closer. "He must be real sensitive to the signal Baymax was giving off, like how a shrill noise affects a dog." he reached out but hesistated.

Hiro looked at Toothless in sympathy. "We're just going to be careful as we're helping him," No one but a still frazzled Baymax missed that, "The first thing we gotta do is find out where he came from, so that we can help him get home. Alright, team?"

Everyone human nodded.

Toothless didn't miss that and stared wonderingly up at Hiro. The teenager smiled at him and nodded confidently that they were dedicated to helping him.

"It's what we do," Hiro helped Baymax up," helping people," he grinned at the others and Toothless once more, "and dragons." Toothless smiled with his eyes.

There was now hope that he could return to Hiccup. Hiro still less-then-secretly wondered about where he and his brother's robot, his fellow team member and his best friend stood at; but right now Big Hero 6 had someone in need to help and, though he very much missed Baymax's care, at the very least they could could work together to help Toothless out.

To be continued...


	13. Befriending Baymax: Pt 1 of 2

I.

Most of the team huddled together to talk for a minute while Fred went inside to see about fish. After Baymax finally used the proper terminology, Toothless had crouched down and panted happily.

Now the dragon sniffed at his paw and licked it to relieve his anxiety, a bulbous figure hobbled over to him and caused him to look up in some concern.

Baymax tilted his head. "I am sorry for any distress I may have caused you," he apologized. Toothless let his head tilt to the other side before yipping in an agreeing manner. Baymax held his big hand out.

Tentatively, the dragon leaned over and sniffed at it. The robot gently rubbed his snout and remarked informally, "Scales!" Toothless yipped in response.

Baymax then moved his other hand along his long jawline, Toothless sniffed at it unsurely but had to stiffen when he felt Baymax rubbing him in perfect synchronization. The dragon vocalized in approval.

"Scaly baby..." The robot crooned.

Toothless murmured and pressed into his hands.

Hiro turned around from talking with his team to address his robot, "Okay, Baymax, we're going to do some searching online to see if we can't find-,"

The big dragon was panting heavily and thumping his tail against the ground as Baymax rubbed him down. "Scaly baby!" he cried happily. Hiro was a little weirded out as Toothless snuggled into his belly and Baymax warmed him for no real reason.

...

Hiro enlarged the tiny portal prototype that he had designed so he could retrieve the Baymax 2.0 suit valve. It was hard enough that he was in a difficult stage with his best friend, but now his only other friends were very much looking over his shoulder.

"Would you like to tell us why you're crouching over your tablet and avoiding our questions?" If there was one thing GoGo Tomago was good at...

"We don't keep secrets," He surprisingly forked over his prized possession. Oddly, no one took it.

Hiro met her eyes, she repositioned herself as she leaned against the brick wall of Fred's mansion. "I shouldn't have to ask," her bubblegum popped and she smiled knowingly at him. He smiled back and returned to his work. "So, how long will this take, 1?"

"If I'm going away, why not just say Hiro, 3?"

No one said anything. Wasabi cleared his throat.

"Hey, we're happy for you little man," he messed up Hiro's jet-black hair, "We're just wondering if you're going to share with us what the _real _plan is."

"I'll let you know as soon as I think of it."

While the others conversed more about what they thought Toothless could be, Fred burst forth out of his mansion with a plate of "bone-dry sandwiches", as he put it. Wasabi wrinkled his prominent nose.

"In case you haven't noticed, we're kinda juggling seeing Hiro off and assisting a mythical creature."

"Freddie, you have a whole ration of mayo here in your outdoor mini-fridge," Honey Lemon opened a green, marble refrigerator revealing the stash, Fred grinned apologetically at an expectant Wasabi. She went on to say that Heathcliffe had left a note here:

"Frederick, here is your mayo. Don't spill. - H."

"Well, maybe I could try to be more open when you tell me you didn't-, hey, where's the 'wiches?"

Wasabi pressed his lips into a thin line. "You told Baymax to take them over to Toothless when you got back, he's taking them over to where the lizard is sunning himself." Fred looked embarrassed now.

"Oh."

...

Baymax waddled up with the platter of cold-cut hoagies, lettuce and tomato as Toothless licked at his chops and eyed the brunch with an eager glint.

"This is the closest we could come to your aquatic diet on such short notice," the robot said pleasantly as he set it down in the grass and plopped down as well. "Please inform me if this does not meet your dietary preference." Toothless licked the left side of his mouth before pausing in mid-engulfing, he looked up at the charitable robot. "It needs mayo?"

He held up an unwrapped bottle, blinking.

Toothless moaned in concern, looked down where one of two big sandwiches surrounded perfectly by garnishment lay, and graciously nosed it to his feet.

"No, thank you." He pushed it forward gently.

The dragon rumbled in his throat and pushed it back towards Baymax. The sandwich was soon caught up in an amicable game of hot potato but Baymax was unsure how to explain what it was.

"Thank you, but I cannot eat this sandwich" He closed his eyes and shook his head, "Please eat to your heart's content." His curious friend tilted his head to one side, scooped up his hoagie with his tongue and then swallowed it in one huge gulp.

Toothless focused on the crevice where face and chest met, "I have no neck..." The dragon turned to his face again. "I have no mouth." he grew a little more obsessed as he tried and failed to find ears, hair or a nose. Finally Toothless met his dot eyes.

Baymax tilted his head at his friend's innocently inqury. "I apologize for your disappointment, but I am only a robot," he said. Toothless came to a decision inside his heart as he said this, remembering all the kindness this white creature had shown him. He gummy-smiled and hopped on his tummy.

Before the bot could argue, Toothless lavished his new friend in sloppy kisses. It was definitely unrestrained like it was with Hiro, not as sneaky as it was with Hiccup, but Toothless had a point.

"I... know... you... want... us... to-," His puffy pal could only get out in between big licks, but this only made Toothless more eager to show him it was okay to relax and be himself. Baymax tried to resist, he finally found himself clutching the big dragon around the neck, "I am not... I cannot-,"

Toothless wouldn't let up.

Baymax rolled over successfully and Toothless back up a bit, still eager. The robot scanned his body and asked if this unidentifiable saliva could be washed out. Toothless chuckled deep in his throat.

The balloon man hesistated. "I know you want me to engage in play with you," his friend gave him a cute play bow, "but I am a robot, Toothless, non-human."

Toothless bounded around excitedly.

Baymax blinked once and then tried to catch him.

To be continued...


	14. Befriending Baymax: Pt 2 of 2

I.

Hiro was just finishing work on a new, this time medium-sized prototype of his portal - which he thought appropriate as no one else was claiming ownership - and stepped out of the shady porch.

"Toothless?" He came to the lit edge. "Bay-MAX!"

Two large, black-and-white figures rolled by and nearly flattened the teen in the process. Toothless, clutching Baymax from the back with his massive wings, propelled the two around the Lee's garden.

"WINNNNGGGGGGGGSSS!" Baymax sang out.

Toothless, his eyes scrunched in elation, emitted a similarily happy sound. Baymax clutched Toothless closer as they made their circle, gleefully crying out:

"WIIIIIIINGGGGGGGSSS!"

The dragon belted out again as well.

"Is Baymax malfunctioning?" Hiro wondered loudly.

It was hard to hear over their noises.

"I think he's having fun," GoGo came up beside him.

"It can't be his battery, he just charged," Wasabi said.

"I've never heard him so... _happy _before."

Hiro said this yet at the same time he felt speechless.

Wasabi and Honey looked at each other in concern, Fred was busy chomping down on his leftover hoagie as Hiro continued to watch in disbelief. The big dragon had encircled Baymax with his tail and was pumping him in the air effortlessly until they both spun around like a giant top. GoGo placed a hand on Hiro's small shoulder.

"Thanks," he told her.

"You know, you really need to get him back."

Hiro tried to ask her more but she'd already left.

While the others went back in, while Baymax and Toothless played together; resembling a giant Yin and Yang symbol in the process, while his flight at twelve o'clock drew ever nearer, Hiro knew that his friends were right. He had to reconnect with Baymax.

Ten minutes later...

The team started to try and get a clearer view of the dragon to see if they could determine where he had come from, though Hiro secretly had a pretty good guess if he wanted to admit to them what he had been up to.

Honey lifted a massive wing, "Evolutionarily, it just doesn't make sense," she kept on talking about how it was impossible for dinosaurs like this to still exist.

Wasabi mentioned that maybe his Club Med burned down in the center of the Earth when an unexpected jolt of tension spiked the air and Toothless bolted to attention. Everyone backed away except for Hiro as the dragon let out a low rumble at the tail snatcher.

The teen curiously stretched out the bright red part with the crudely-drawn skull on it. He was amazed to find that it was comfortably yet securely fastened on to simulate the other fin; like a human prosthetic.

If Hiro could ever continue with his line of bots...

Toothless rumbled again.

He looked up in bemusement at him, "You know," he held up the twin fins, "I could actually fix this-,"

The dragon snatched his tail back.

"And give you a much more authentic, surgically fit piece," Toothless narrowed his eyes, as GoGo made the comment that she definitely thought the answer was "No," the dragon felt something drop on top of him.

"Freddie!" Honey cried in alarm.

Toothless turned to find the strange hybrid dragon man on his back. He flipped back his head and let his confident human face show, his brows pulling down in cocky determination. He spread his arms.

"Let's fly, dragon man."

The dragon was snarling as Wasabi pulled Fred hurriedly off of him. "Get off the dragon, Freddie, get off the dragon." he restrained a whining Fred.

"Oh, come on! Let me ride him. He's a _dragon._"

"We don't know that for sure," GoGo cut it.

"Baymax?" Hiro turned to him.

"I can only improvise. His anatomy does not exist in any known database, but does closely resemble the artwork of dragons. His physiology is a mystery too."

"Um..." Baymax looked lingeringly on him, Hiro felt a lump in his throat and swallowed, "How about we scan your fighting database first and then make sure your healthcare database is fuctional... uh, later on."

Baymax nodded. Hiro waited and then reached out to touch his friend. The robot looked down briefly, shifted his "weight" to avoid contact, and refocused on an irritable Toothless. Hiro reeled back, rejected, and then turned back to his Tablet. He looked hurt.

The sentient being looked at him once more, then away.

Everyone tried to divert the exchange.

"Hiro, why don't you try flying him?" Honey offered kindly. "See if you can scout the city with him, there has to be more of his kind somewhere." Doubtful, but with the hope Toothless still liked him, Hiro tried to.

Toothless looked up at him confidently and smiled with his eyes. Baymax stepped forward with his hands out, as if he were afraid Hiro would get hurt. But he merely stepped back; his programming was impaired.

"Perhaps a..." He would have said "helmet", he had to. Did he want to? Could he? Baymax didn't know.

Hiro got his foot into the right stirrup but completely overlooked that the left one was longer. "What?!" At his exclaimation, Toothless let out an accompanying bellow before taking air. He was assuredly pounding his wings when he felt that age-old gravity plummet.

The friends clustered around anxiously as Toothless fought furiously for altitude but Hiro was waving his arms backwards in a frantic attempt to land. Letting out a shriek, the dragon collasped and Wasabi was unexpectedly the one to catch Hiro. He sighed very quietly and flashed a smile up at the worried man.

"Thanks, Bi." Hiro said gratefully as he half-slid, was half-assisted out of his arms. "Well, that worked."

Toothless watched him to ascertain that he was all right, briefly concerning himself with whether he would be able to find someone else or not, and then turned expectantly to Honey.

She understood his enthusiasm instantly.

"Uh... sorry," she held up her fingers, "I just got my nails done."

Undeterred, the dragon turned to Wasabi who came to stand closer to her. His left eye widened as he got what Toothless was asking him and shook his head.

"I've got a terrible fear of heights," he grinned, placing his hands in front of him.

"Wasabi, you fly on me all the time." Baymax cocked his head innocently.

"Don't be ridiculous, Baymax," he said through clenched teeth, "I don't even have a pilot's license."

"You don't need a license," Everyone turned to Fred, who was now on Toothless again, "To fly a dragon."

As the Night Fury flashed his non-serrated teeth at the obnxious lizard man, a hand lay down between his sensory flaps. His eyes grew large as they landed on GoGo and she smiled confidently at the dragon.

"Since when can you fly dragons, GoGo?" Hiro asked her as Baymax removed a comically sour Fred.

"Since now," she pulled out her gum and placed it behind her ear, hopping up on Toothless like he was a horse, "Nice and easy," GoGo rubbed him behind his ear.

Toothless met her reassuring gaze a bit timidly before whipping his head around and breathing out gruffly through his nose. He made a ready screech.

"Let's do this," GoGo took the hames and gripped herself to the dragon like he was a bull ready to buck her off; Toothless, confused, started to beat up into the air with dwindling certainity. "Come on!" the teenager commanded, jerking up on his neck.

The dragon growled, resisting.

"Take it easy!" Hiro rushed over to help; he felt no one shadowing his steps and paused to look around.

"Whoa, _whoa_!" GoGo pulled tighter. "I'm in charge," she insisted to the imprudent dragon, her alloy orange eyes narrowed by his piercing one, "I'm the one flying you, you're the animal and I'm the ride-"

Toothless bucked her off, the instance reminded him of Hiccup and the dragon wailed in agony as he fell back first to the earth. Wasabi reliably caught GoGo as the dragon clenched his eyes shut and prepared for the crash when suddenly he stopped just inches from hitting the ground; Toothless still held his breath until the hand applying heat touched him.

The dragon snapped open his eyes and glanced up in surprise at Baymax; apparently, the big white guy had finally caught him. Toothless was jerking his neck away, scared. Baymax leaned over towards him and was very slow and calming as he touched his skin just below the jawline. The dragon relaxed now.

"There, there," Baymax spoke soothingly, "It will all be all right," he continued to talk the panting creature down both literally and physically until the dragon touched the ground. Toothless breathed in and out tiny breathes through his nose, his eyes making little darting movements, as Baymax held his face. "You require immediate hydration."

Hiro watched with a growing perplexity as Baymax unscrewed a water bottle and offered Toothless some as he poured it into his hand. Just as the teen was about to ask Baymax where he got the water, the robot looked over and asked Honey and GoGo if they were okay. When they nodded Baymax then turned to Fred and thanked him for the water.

His healthcare companion's lack of attention his way made him shake his head in frustration, he then went over to pick up his Tablet and made the decision he needed to. "We're going to Akuma Island everyone."

He paused for affect.

"Why?" GoGo asked suspiciously as he turned around. Hiro searched anxiously for any pair of eyes who believed in him and found Toothless.

The teenager took a deep breath. "Guys..."

"The diffuser valve is in G1 Baymax?" Wasabi asked.

"Yes," Hiro winced.

"And you went there to retrieve it for Baymax?"

"Yes," He looked down at Honey's inquiry.

"And you believe that is how Toothless got here?" Baymax said in his gentle voice, Hiro met his eyes with quiet urgency and nodded. "It's our best bet."

Wasabi sighed. "Well, let's get a move on!"

Everyone else agreed and Hiro focused on his laces a bit before looking at his laptop once more. He was about to put it up when Toothless nosed it out of his hands and slid it over his head into his backpack in a fluid motion. The teen grinned and received a wet kiss.

"Okay, okay," he wiped his cheek off and turned to his caring friends, "Our first focus is Toothless now." Hiro Hamada told his teammates before setting out... and almost walking right into Baymax.

"But what about your flight?" The robot asked.

His white chest showed the forecast and local time, **11:20**, before Hiro could whip out his silver SharpWatch. He took a calming breath and patted Baymax on his vinyl tummy, in control of himself.

"We'll get to that later," Hiro passed him.

Baymax touched his shoulder. "But this is something you have shown great interest in, Hiro."

The teen kept his hurt look to himself; _now _he was choosing to care? "I'll scan you as soon as we get back." he gently pulled his shoulder away. "Let's go."

Toothless came alongside Baymax and they, the rest of Big Hero 6 and the pending leader Hiro struck out to Akuma Island for what was hopefully the final time.

"So... we're just gonna walk our giant lizard out of here with none of our suits on?"

"Fred, _you're _in your suit." GoGo pointed out.

"Oh. Good point! Better disguise..."

"We'll just say we're practicing for the Chinese New Year or something..." Hiro said as they exited the Lee estate.

"Always the man with the plan, huh Hiro?"

"You better believe it, Bi."

...

Atop the hangar of the mansion's roof, someone watched them through a tiny digital telescope. Someone clad in a form-fitting trench coat, someone suspcious. Abigail Callaghan brought down her device; if Baymax wasn't scanning she couldn't be detected easily. Besides, she couldn't get any closer without her signal fizzling out. Despite proximity, her and Alistair Krei were getting closer.

To be continued...


	15. Where common sense lies

I.

"I can't believe you would come here without telling us," GoGo started to say but then listened to her own words, "Actually, I can." The group had taken Fred's helicopter, after forcing a very reluctant Toothless inside, to Akuma.

"We really shouldn't be here." Honey Lemon said. "At the very least not without our suits, we're going to get caught."

"Why is now any different then the last _three _times?"

Hiro cringed at Wasabi's withering look.

"We don't need our suits for everything." He rebuked.

"Ha-ha!" Fred struck a karate pose. "I _never _take off my suit." he paused. "Unless I'm home. Or in bed. Or..." The teenager fell behind as he thought. "Or in the shower, or-,"

"Fred, will you come on!" GoGo flung over her shoulder.

He thought of more self-incriminating things before what GoGo said registered to him and he hurried up behind the four of them. Intentionally trailing behind was Toothless who was still nervously glancing around at what was left.

Two meltdowns at the facility had really devastated the insides. As Baymax too pondered the building's structual sound-ness, but being unable to scan it and therefore form an opinion, he noticed how out-of-place his new friend was.

Tilting his head, Baymax waddled up to him and held out his curled fist. Toothless turned around and sniffed at it the instant he saw it. The dragon then met his optics. Baymax held it closer expectantly; Toothless just sniffed again There was no getting him to understand until Baymax tapped his nose lightly.

"Bata-lalalalala!" He wiggled his fingers crazily.

The dragon's jaw dropped. "Rawwrr?"

"Now you try," Baymax insisted.

Toothless did so and waited. Baymax demonstrated again and Toothless blinked before croaking in time to whatever Baymax was doing. They repeated it a few more times and, with even Baymax eye-smiling, Toothless happily scooped up his friend and carried him into what little remained here.

Hiro cast a cautious look over his shoulder.

Honey Lemon paused and placed a good-natured hand on his other one. "Hiro, you shouldn't be so against Baymax as an indivdual-minded being. He's always going to care about you, but you have to choose to accept who he's becoming."

"He can't become anything," Hiro turned to what was left of his control panel, assigning his friends different parts to help reassemble the medium-sized portal, "He's a machine."

"Don't you think that's up for _him _to decide?" GoGo nodded over to a stalling Toothless and Baymax as they all began to sift through the rubble and try locating the pieces. Hiro only adjusted his ear piece as they all headed to the lower level.

"Okay, guys. I'm going to send Portal 3.0 to your phones. All you have to do is take a picture and the tiny scanning beacons on the parts will transmit to my Tablet. Let's go!"

"Hiro," Baymax waddled up behind him as the black lizard licked at his paw, "Could I be of assistance? If you check-,"

"I already said I'd scan you later, Baymax. Maybe tonight."

Baymax blinked. "But Toothless is my... friend."

Hiro gripped the remains of the panel board, "Of course he's your friend," he muttered angrily. "We'll get to it as soon as we get Toothless home, just power down for a bit."

"I cannot deactivate-,"

"You're so indiviual-minded, _you _figure it out!"

Toothless came up and exchanged a look with the robot.

"You have already missed your flight," he pointed out now.

Hiro didn't say anymore. Eventually, they just let him be.

Two hours later...

Toothless walked hesistantly to the empty portal's hole. He had wires and cords taped and clipped onto his ear flaps, his sensory flaps and a cranial communicator custom-made that went under his brown harness. Hiro beamed with real pride.

"When I got it I got it," he cracked his knuckles. Everyone was situated at different parts of the reconstructed panel. A low whine and Hiro looked down on the wide-eyed dragon.

He gave him a sympathetic look, "It's all right. All you have to do is walk to the front of the portal and let out a roar. If your friend who operates your prosthetic is listening, he'll know you're here. Then we'll try to send you home, bud."

Toothless breathed easier hearing this.

The dragon craned his head around, stretched back his shoulders and wings, then proceeded to approach the now glowing, purple portal. Before GoGo could ask why it wasn't sucking anything in, Hiro asked her to focus on stablizing the barely contained fluctuation. He instructed everyone else to keep an eye on their individual sections

"Okay, Toothless," the teen walked him through, "Just focus into the center of the portal and let out a big one."

Ordinarily, the dragon would have been distracted by his new friend's voice coming from his neck, instead Toothless pointed his nose towards the center of the swirling bulls-eye and inclined his head before releasing a devastating roar just as he had when Hiccup had asked him to. Sparks flew; but that was just the start. Everything technological shook hard.

"BAYMAX!" Hiro cried as the robot started to convulse.

Toothless couldn't turn in his direction fast enough before the blaring feedback from the multiple signal blocks caused him to screech in pain and paw frantically at his throbbing forehead. Hiro ignored his friends' screams for him to come back as he hopped the metal, glassless bars. He landed on top of Baymax and frantically tried to help him. Hiro took quick note of the wires hooked into Baymax's inborn heart monitor - he had secretly hooked Toothless to him - and in a fit of panic ripped them from his chest. He stiffened. Hiro whispered his name and the robot collapsed over into his side.

The portal had suffered from several breaks and cracks, but it was miraculously still standing. Toothless, as well, was on the way to a quick mend. He looked over to where Hiro had righted Baymax up and was making a fuss over him. Never before had Toothless felt such a rush of relief that those he considered his friends were okay, or such a grieving envy.

How he missed Hiccup.

When Baymax came around, Hiro rubbed his arms briefly and then got up before the robot could incite his gratitude and/or concern. Toothless watched as the teenager passed him while unintentionally giving him a brief look of muted despair and then went over himself to see to it that Baymax was really all right.

The robot sat up, shook his oval head and then met the big, dark green eyes of the awaiting dragon. Baymax attempted to stand up, but the short circuit caused him to fall wobbly onto his ballooned bum. Toothless had managed to catch his tosh and situate him back up on his tubby feet. The robot turned his way and clasped the dragon in a big hug.

Toothless was a little uneasy about this and instead lifted Baymax gently back to his feet. So as not to offend him, Toothless squated and offered Baymax his back amiably.

Baymax crawled onto Toothless a second time and noticed the way the dragon's muscles contracted and released when he stood up. Curiously, the robot reached down and pressed into the side under Toothless's sensory flaps. Both observed as the back plates with the blue plasma glands on the bases cropped up and then quickly clapped together involuntarily.

The robot turned to Toothless and mimicked this with both of his hands. Toothless happily let his tongue loll to the side and repeated this with Baymax sitting right on his plates. It was clearly a way to cheer Toothless up, but they were both really enjoying themselves. Baymax even "smiled" again as Toothless carried him away from the still-active portal. No said anything about it; at least not until they returned home.

To be continued...


	16. How do you be a friend?

I.

Hiro looked out at the setting sun behind a cover of clouds, which caused a brilliant band of red to glow. He sighed as Fred's parents estate was suffused in a light haze of pink and turned to his team in futility.

"I wish I could say I hadn't meant to lie to you all."

Somehow the late evening could only produce low spirits; and not just for their inability to send a poor, homesick dragon back to his own dimension, either.

"I think we've all had a long day," Honey offered.

She rubbed Baymax's arm and kissed Toothless on the snout. Tugging on GoGo's arm, the two started past Hiro. He turned to give them an insistent look.

"We're still a team, guys... uh, _girls_."

"We'll be back in the morning," GoGo told him, a smile unexpectedly on her face. She shared a look with Honey Lemon. "Give this some thought, Hiro."

"Classes doesn't start for a few days." Honey added.

He looked down at his shoes.

"Dude, you can stay here if you want to." Fred said.

"Naw," Hiro shrugged off his offer, though Wasabi clasped his hands together, "I'm just-," And all six of them turned to Toothless. "What about Toothless?"

"What about him?" GoGo quipped unhelpfully.

"He can stay with ME!" Fred literally jumped at this.

Toothless was desperately appalled, shrinking back.

"How about with you, Hiro?" Honey suggested.

"I have a cat," He told her, "How about you?"

"You know, my house is _huge._"

"I doubt he'll respond well to constant Latina."

"Hmm."

"Me, ME! Oh, PLEASE pick me!"

Hiro looked up wryly from Fred waving wildly in the background, "Now, who do we know with the space, time and provisions, who can-," Fred shook his shoulders, "OK! OK, Fred," he laughed. "_You_."

"_Yes_!" Fred pumped down with his fist.

"Finally," Wasabi straightened his back. "Someone else he can bother," Toothless grimaced at the two.

"Come on, buddy." Hiro waved Baymax on.

"Hiro," The 'tone' Baymax used stopped Hiro cold.

He recovered enough to look back at Baymax with barely-concealed fear. "Buddy." Only twice before had Baymax ever sounded like this; once when the robot had refused to give him Tadashi's care chip...

_The portal, _Hiro thought, _Scan me. Be normal!_

"Perhaps it would be a good idea for me to stay with Toothless. He is my friend and I believe it would be beneficial to him if I also treated him as my patient."

"But... " _You're my healthcare companion._

"I will see you tomorrow," Baymax reminded him.

_Don't you want to me stay? _"If that's what you want, buddy." Hiro turned with tears brimming his eyes, he heard Toothless whine at him. "I'll... I'll scan you for damages tomorrow," his voice stressed with emotion.

"Are you all right?" Baymax reached out.

"I'm fine," Hiro kicked up a brisk jog and hurried off to walk home past GoGo and Honey, both of whom bid good night to the last four before following Hiro.

"I'm really worried about him," Wasabi mentioned.

The three turned to him.

"Ya know..." He focused on Fred. "I hope he's not 'lasping," The man headed into the house to stake a claim on the sirlions Heathcliff was preparing. Hiro's emotional one caused Fred to ponder momentarily.

"You're a healthcare companion to a dragon now?"

"Yes."

"Sw_ee_t!"

Baymax held back, Toothless vocalized for him to follow Fred inside for obvious reasons. The soft bot looked at the dragon; then asked Fred as he went in:

"How do you be... a friend?"

Fred paused and looked at Baymax in confusion.

"Uh... well, _we're _friends, right?"

"We are teammates," Baymax contradicted affably.

The teen scratched at his beanie, "Uh... well, I guess Dash only programmed you to be someone's health bot." He shook his head to dislodge any encroaching sadness. "Hey, Bi! Don't eat _all _the gravy. Ah, man... my tates!" he looked back, frustrated, "That all, Bay?"

"Your input was superb, Fred, please enjoy dinner."

He grinned at Baymax and did just that.

Toothless lingered.

"You too, my new patient."

The dragon cocked his head and did as he was told.

Baymax looked down at his belly, he thought about Hiro, he thought about Tadashi, his teammates plus Toothless. Toothless, the dragon who wanted to be his friend. "Friend," Baymax wondered aloud and it was somehow more a statement then a question. He looked up ponderingly at the stars just now forming.

To be continued...


	17. Change of chip: Pt 1 of 2

**A/N: **Because I love this story and characters so much, I am going to include a synopsis of this story.

Tonight I am going to write the final chapter but hopefully the love and heart is still going into this. I couldn't just stop right here and not try again.

So here, my intended chapters leading up to the chapter I'll write by tonight. :)

**I. **After a night at Fred's (Toothless doesn't like him)...

The next day they all go to Aunt Cass's, Toothless is causing trouble and irritating Mochi. Baymax distracts Toothless with a can of tuna while Hiro tries to get Aunt Cass to sign the emuncipation papers he forgot. They steal to Hiro's room. There, they discover Toothless can draw and he initiates Baymax in a game of catch, irritating Hiro and causing Aunt Cass to come and check on them.

They joke about dragons - which Hiro denies and laughs off. Toothless slowly realizes that Hiro and Baymax are distant and tries to get them to get closer.

This fails and they go meet up with the rest of Big Hero 6.

By this time meched out in San Fransoyko, Toothless has flash backs to a younger Hiccup; causing signal interference that make him to spaz out and mistake his friends for enemies. Hiro is mistaken for young Hiccup. Everyone fights (reluctantly at first, but then more passionately) and Toothless loses, but Baymax chooses Toothless as the most critically injuried.

Toothless still fights Baymax fiercely whilst not recognizing his friend, but Hiro grips under his chin to make him pass out.

Toothless questions Hiro with his eyes, thinking they were friends. Hiro is in tears almost. Toothless slowly slips in unconsciousness.

Even though it's revealed that Krei and Abigal merely wanted to help Baymax with his increasing independence, Big Hero 6 ignore the observers.

Hiro makes Baymax choose and Baymax asks Hiro if he'll change him. Tearfully, Hiro says no. Baymax flies Toothless home, unintentionally dramatic, and clears off Hiro's computers to make room for Toothless. Irony.

He and Toothless hide out and Baymax is actually "worried" but satisfied he can be alone with his friend who helped him find his humanity.

Valka has an interesting encounter with Aunt Cass where AC keeps holding up signs like "Help Wanted" and "Room For Rent", freaking out comically as Valka can't figure out how to push the door in.

She gets in and mistakes coffee for mead and donuts for scones in an attempt to calm Aunt Cass down; they both realize they're mother figures.

Valka bonds with Mochi; finding he's like a dragon.

Aunt Cass actually hijacks CloudJumper; determind not to let Hiro die. CJ merely flies to the other side of the 'cafe.

Hiro comes home and he and Baymax fret over Toothless, putting awkwardness aside for a time.

Valka and Aunt Cass find them - AC fretting over Hiro - and Valka tells a stunned Hiro Baymax has a soul. To which Hiro, still feverent over Baymax choosing Toothless over him, admantly denies.

Valka's excited but also casually observant over this.

The gang all return to the center of the city where Yokai and the Buzzin' Bot Cousins try to open the portal in the middle of the city.

Everyone tries to get the portal open and Hiccup and his friends come out. Misunderstandings abound as everyone fights their contemporaries and Toothless and Baymax try to stop them.

Hiccup and Hiro oddly enough sort of get along until Hiccup examines Baymax closer.

Hiccup denies Baymax as a living being and won't let a frantic Toothless over to him.

Hiro is regretful towards Toothless, but defends Baymax.

Toothless overcomes Callaghan's new wave of microbots and asserts himself with his signal flaps as the Alpha.

Once everything calms down they are all friends again and Toothless even takes Hiro for a ride - Hiccup supplies him with his first black flight suit.

Toothless is secretly envious of Baymax all of a sudden and intimdated by his mech suit.

Hiccup tries to remind him of friendship, but Toothless is still anxious to prove he's faster and stronger then this version of Baymax.

Baymax squats and holds out his hand.

"We are friends, no matter what."

Toothless is speechless and places his paw in Baymax's mech hand. Baymax grips it gently; Toothless realizes how heroic Baymax really is.

The dragon nuzzles against his red chest. Baymax hugs him closer and closes his eyes. Toothless sighs and moans, looking up with big, emotional eyes at him. Baymax pats his back, Toothless licks his suit.

"How do you fly a dragon?" Hiro asks nervously, remembering his first time.

Hiccup instructs him briefly.

"What now?"

"That's it," Casual, smiling, "Whatever happens, happens!"

A pat on Toothless's neck and he's off. When Baymax points out Hiro's lack of helmet, Hiccup climbs on Baymax's back.

Hiccup asks Baymax who should be the rider.

Baymax: Whatever happens, happens.

Hiccup screams as they take off.

Hiro becomes one with Toothless as they both imagine being with a younger Hiccup and a still-alive Tadashi, respectively.

Toothless even manages to conquer his fear of the city as they weave through the traffic as the sun sets across the Golden Gate bridge.

Toothless and Hiccup, Baymax and Hiro all spend their last afternoon on the barge.

They all sleep at Fred's that night.

To be continued...


	18. Change of chip: Pt 2 of 2

I. Goodbye Hiro.

"Are you sure want to do this?" Aunt Cass asked her remaining family member; the only one she knew of.

"Yes," the shaggy-haired boy smiled up at her, "If I don't get on that plane, I'm going to regret it. Maybe not now, but Baymax doesn't have flight clearance."

Everyone laughed as Hiro hugged his aunt.

The scene at the portal had been more emotional when they had said goodbye to Toothless and the others, but no less meaningful, the teen recalled as he turned to Baymax. This simple-minded machine had stood in for Hiro's big brother; he was the best friend anyone could ever ask for. The boy stymied.

"Hiro," And for the first time in days - not including on the barge when Baymax had pulled Hiro into his side - Baymax held his arms open for one final hug.

Smiling in amusement, and because he'd longed for this, Hiro walked up to him calmly and touched his arms to gently push them down. "You only scanned me for damages, but you did not tell me if you found any... I," he looked down, "I just wanted to hug you before you left. For no-, for no medical reason. If..."

And Hiro hugged his pair figure with all his might.

Baymax hugged him back with emotion.

Hiro looked up into his eyes in acceptance before he asked Baymax to open his port. Baymax did so. The yellow fighting chip Hiro had also included with his brother's popped out accordingly; Hiro asked for it.

No one knew what to say as Baymax slid the small thing out of his port drive and handed it innocuously to his creator's brother. Hiro then swallowed deeply and held out his hand with the chip laying out flatly.

"Baymax, this is your choice. Do you want to be a superhero? I should've asked you if this was what you wanted a long time ago. Now, I know I'm not - I know it's not my place. But, this choice should have always been yours. What do _you _wanna do, buddy?"

"I want to be your healthcare companion."

Hiro smiled a little. "You always will be. But I'm going to get on that plane Abigail and Krei funded."

No one mentioned either treacherous professor.

"And I'm leaving in less then five minutes," Hiro was adamant but willing, "If you want to go back to full-time caregiving, the choice is yours and I'll take the chip. But if you want to keep being a superhero..."

Baymax looked down at the chip in Hiro's hand.

"San Fransoyko needs it's heroes," he stated.

Hiro nodded. "That's right, buddy," he whispered.

"It needs you... I, _I _need you." Baymax blinked.

"The world needs this technology," Hiro told him.

There was a brief pause for thought, Baymax set his sights on Hiro's offered chip, and made the decision to pick it back up and put it in his port drive. Pride drenched every fiber of Hiro's being as he squeezed his best friend; and with all _Baymax's _might the bot hugged him back. Everyone else took turns quickly giving Hiro a squeeze as he rushed for his personal plane. They all waved as it pulled away, taking air.

"You okay, Maxie?"

"Yes," He answered his friend as GoGo and Aunt Cass hugged his sides, the six walked away with a curious robot rubbing his port drive opening. "We will resume hero work and see Hiro on Turkey day."

Laughing, they all used their anti-matter anklets to materialize their suits and fly a nervous Aunt Cass home. Hiro looked down happily from the red glint speeding away from below his jet airplane, and let himself lean back with his hands behind his head.

He had the world of healthcare to revolutionize.

II. Back in Berk...

Hiccup and Toothless stood side-by-side on the docks.

The man looked over at his dragon, who was far, far more then his dragon. "I almost forgot what was important."

Toothless looked up at him with wide eyes; the man smiled bittersweetly and hugged him close to his heart.

The human-hearted dragon rumbled happily.

"I missed you, bud, I missed you."

All of Berks dragons flew home with this own exports of fish and fruit from islands afar.

Eret and any of his associates were never allowed back.

The End


End file.
